Nidaime's Mini-me
by blanketfarts
Summary: In which the Senju gain a new member and Konoha is swept in for a ride. She's going to be shaking things up, starting with Kakashi's infallible facade. The headache that everyone's been waiting for. Progressively AU
1. Chapter 1

I was born on the 18th of February in the midst of peacetime. Five years had passed since the Second Shinobi World War and it would be a year to come til the next war would come reeling its ugly head, and then another before the next tragedy befell on Konoha.

My adoring mother gifted me the name Kareha in honour of the village that her grandparents had bled and sacrificed themselves for. As mum's pride and joy, my upbringing was always at the forefront of her priorities. Her own childhood had been plagued by war and a cruel absence of all the warmth that should've accompanied a prized daughter of the Senju family.

She was a beautiful and graceful woman with a streak of mischief, as all Senju women happened to be and in kaa-chan's words - I would no doubt grow to become. She had long brown hair loosely tied at the small of her back, full red lips often set in a soft smile and a straight sharp nose. She was usually found gliding around the house in an inky black kimono, which was really less disconcerting than it sounds; Senju emblem proudly displayed across the back. Her pair of striking red eyes and demeanour had been the few things I had inherited.

I was a pale washed out blonde, a slight shade off albino; complexion pale as opposed to mother's light tan. She often retold the story of how as soon as I was born there had been no doubt that I was Senju. Other than the fact that I had arrived through her vagina obviously. Her eyes would brighten as she gushed and recounted vivaciously the events that followed as I came into the world.

'Grandfather.' That had been the first word she had graced me with.

Apparently I had reacted very strangely, ceasing my wailing immediately after, evening out my breathing into soft puffs of air before slumbering for a whole three days.

I know, a bit morbid to address your newborn daughter as your old ass grandfather who had expired decades ago and was ten feet underground but what can I say, we Senju were a dynamic bunch.

I was supposedly the spitting image of my great grandfather, Senju Tobirama. Despite the fact that great grandfather had probably held mother a total of once before his untimely death, mother was adamant about his dedication to his village and family. The latter, I was not so convinced about. From the history books that I'd poured over, he had been a pragmatic asshole, paranoid and sharp tongued.

If anything, I thought mother and I could be likened more to my great granduncle, Hashirama. He was the indestructible backbone, light hearted jokester of our clan and the one who held huge responsibility for loosening the stick perpetually lodged into his brother's backside, enough for him to settle down anyway. I had great granduncle to thank for my existence today. I quickly clapped my hands together, murmuring my thanks before returning to my studies.

I was currently working through a few basic fuinjutsu designs, trying to memorise certain formations of technique formulae that I could hopefully adopt into my own seals later on. Fuinjutsu was a fickle art, which was why a budding genius like me was reduced to plagiarising seals, for now. Mother was eyeing me like a hawk from the kitchen making sure I didn't overextend myself and end up a splatter of organs upon her pristine floors. I was circulating chakra to my forehead as I studied, keeping multiple leaves plastered on. I dipped my brush back into the inkwell, holding back my sleeves. Sunlight spilled onto my back in sweet waves. I let out a sigh. If every day could learn from this one, it'd be perfection until the end of my existence. I have a bad habit of speaking too soon.

I paused my reading to look to the window curiously, a messenger bird tottered on the ledge not a moment later. Mother shot me an amused glance before detaching the note and sending the bird off. I dropped my brush, letting the leaves flutter from my forehead.

I was confused. We were situated at the borders of the Fire Country and mun had little contact with anyone. Well, not after she was hit up by some ninja and abandoned just as quickly. She retired from shinobi corps to raise me outside the village, cutting off almost all communication with Konoha as a whole. Despite her Senju status and competency as a ninja, the village had never reached out to her after she left. So why now? I eyed mum quietly and then watched the colour drain for her face. I made to stand up but she gestured for me to stay seated, striding over in an overly calm manner that suggested this was much worse than I could imagine.

She refilled my tea cup and I couldn't help but notice the slight stiffness in her usually impeccable tea ceremonial presentation. She suddenly spoke up. "Kareha, do you remember Uncle Sakumo?"

I gave a slow nod, not seeing where this was going.

"He went on a mission recently, and there's been a bit of a mishap."

I tilted my head in slight confusion. "Did his teammates die or something?"

She looked at me with a forlorn smile that I was well accustomed to. The one which said, 'I hope my baby girl never has to grow up'. She shook her head, "They've failed an important mission Kareha. And there seems like they'll be another war is upon us."

I must've had a bewildered expression on my face because she motioned for me to come over and scooped me into her arms. "But hadn't we just ended one?"

"It's not that easy to explain but I suppose it's because of the different factions arising across all the hidden villages. The political and military disconnection is bringing lots of unrest to the people. Every day the villages are losing more and more national power, leading to a lot of chaos and disorder." A dark look crossed her face. "Something that should never be introduced into a ninja village. Skirmishes within the smaller nations are further disrupting the fragile balance that the five nations had established from the previous war. A balance only held together by a measly piece of paper. One tear and it's all over." She paused. "Recently, Konoha sent out a team to bring an end to a prolonged conflict on the edge of its borders. They were tasked with supressing the revolt and solidifying a treaty with the Village Head."

"The one led by Uncle Sakumo?"

"Yes. And something happened on this mission that forced Uncle Sakumo to choose between the lives of his teammates and the success of the mission." Her facial expression darkened.

My eyes widened, "He chose his teammates, didn't he?"

She gave an assenting nod, I felt her chin resting upon my head. "He made a noble choice, but the failure of this mission means that the war is going to reach us faster."

I gripped onto mum's hand in fear. The flames had been fanned. The war was coming. "What are they going to do? Are they going to execute Uncle Sakumo? Because he failed to complete his assignment?"

Mum stilled beneath me and answered a curt, "No, they're not." She had a faraway look in her eyes. "I suppose the guilt would end up doing the job though." She murmured. The conversation stagnated after that point.

That night we packed up all our necessities. I sealed up all our family heirlooms, which included the less well known sister of Raijin, the Shuijin. Mum had decided that it was no longer safe on the outskirts of the Fire Country and that we should head back to Konoha as soon as possible. I let my hand drift over the smooth surface of our wooden dining table. The one I spent countless hours learning to read and write and then countless more reading scrolls and practising seals.

This had been the simple lifestyle that I preferred. In which there was no pressure to excel, because there would be no one to compare myself to. I could move at my own pace, improve because of my own motivation and curiosity rather than the need to survive. Playing ninja was comfortable, actually living it out wasn't something I had ever entertained. No matter how many times it was explained to me, the idea of war never became a tangible concept, until now. I could almost feel death nipping at my heels. Dread settled at the bottom of my stomach like a rock lodged into the seafloor. It must've been somebody's form of a sick joke that I was born between two wars.

I felt bile rise up from my throat when we burnt the house down and then even more sick when mother's back faced me and there was an absence of our clan symbol. Her shoulders were held with no less pride and no less grace but I already felt like we had lost.

Slapping a chakra suppressant and anti-detector seal onto herself, she swept my small hand into hers as we leapt into the trees as small unnoticeable blobs of grey. It wasn't long until mum took to carrying me to shorten the travel time. The faster we arrived at Konoha, the safer we would be.

We sped through the day taking minimal breaks before setting up camp for the night. I stared moodily at the campfire. I knew what moving to Konoha meant for me, for us. Mum was going to join the war effort and she needed to integrate me into the village in the highly likely chance that she died. How heroic. No matter how many political allies and wealthy clansmen she arms me with, nothing was going to hide the fact that I would be a vulnerable orphan and the last of my clan.

Senju Tsunade? I swallowed thickly, she abandoned everything and had forsaken the village. There was no way she'd foster me even if she knew of my existence. I would be a sitting duck for the next ambitious fool to take advantage of. Fate sealed, the only unknown that lay before me now, was the bastard that I'd be politically arranged with. I stood up, patting off the dirt before slinking into my sleeping bag and watching the sky bitterly.

I could feel the heavy gaze that weighed on my tiny form but refused to acknowledge it. I couldn't ask for mum to let the others do the fighting in our stead. It'd be the people she grew up with and formed bonds with that would fight this war. And there wasn't a chance that Senju Mitama wouldn't be there fighting alongside them. Not that she had a choice. The letter this morning had not been the most subtle of a withdrawal. I rolled to my side, back facing her. Clenching my eyes shut, I tried to ignore the soft flickers of chakra spotting off in the distance. The whistling leaves lulled me into fitful unrest.

My eyes snapped open as a chakra signature extinguished suddenly. I shot out of the sleeping bag, reaching out for mother's presence. I relaxed as she appeared beside me, dead fox in hand. Quietly, I began rolling up our bedding and waited by the fire as she cooked the meat. The swirling emotions from last night had finally calmed. I would adapt. I had to.

"We'll reach Konoha by midday if we keep at yesterday's pace."

I made a soft noise of compliance, chewing slowly on the fox meat. Kaa-chan, too accustomed to my morning antics hummed in understanding as she covered up the fire. I was handed a bottle of water which I took a swig of. I furrowed as the bottle emptied itself too fast. Shaking it upside down, I huffed as a few drops reluctantly spilled out. I concentrated the moisture in the air, drawing it into the palm of my hand. Chakra started fluctuating wildly, before flattening out into weak waves lapping at an unyielding rock. I started panting, bent over my knees as I stared at a single droplet of water that sat obnoxiously in the palm of my hand. From behind, I heard a muted snickering as mother performed the water drawing technique correctly and deposited the water into the bottle.

"You're barely 5 years old, what do you hope to achieve, stressing over a technique that many in their lifetime would never be able to execute." She rested a reassuring hand on shoulder giving me a closed eye smile.

I turned the slightest shade of red at her dismissal. "It's in my blood to be able to do at least this much." I said, shaking at the now full water bottle. "Great grandfather was _revered_ for his water release mastery."

"As will you, one day."

"I'm going to be the laugh of the village when they realise the Nidaime's great granddaughter is a complete dud with water jutsus."

Mum let out a hearty laugh ruffling my hair. "I'm sure they wouldn't dare say a thing in fear of facing your wrath." I smiled, blushing under her praise. "With your attempts at fuinjutsu, they'd be running for the hills if they knew what was good for them." And… the heart-warming mother and daughter bonding evaporates.

"Kaa-chan! You just wait, I'm going to put the Uzumakis to shame with the kinds of seals that I'll bring to fruition. I've already started sketching out the basic formulae frame for the hiraishin's first tier. It's only a matter of time before I exceed even Tobirama's space time ninjutsu."

A fist came down on my head as I finished my exclamation. "It's great grandfather to you."

She had an amused smile on her face as I nursed my head with the pitifulness of a wilted flower. "Come on, time to head off, try to last more than two hours this time." She said, face completely straight, tone with a teasing lilt.

I huffed, "The hiraishin would definitely solve this issue." I mumbled, taking off into the trees and pushing a steady stream of chakra to the soles of my feet.

It was around midday when I finally dropped to the forest floor, whatever competitive streak that had motivated me before completely fizzing out. I drank the water offered to me greedily, eyeing kaa-chan's unruffled state with slight contempt. She fished out a piece of cloth to dab away the sweat clinging to my face. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she teased, "We've got to get you a shower before meeting the Hokage, huh?"

I narrowed my eyes, snorting with indignation, "I hardly think someone who's constantly surrounded by smelly shinobi would be averse to my sweatiness."

She laughed, "Too right you are." Sweeping my bangs away from my forehead she placed a small kiss there. "You did well keeping up, five hours is a new record."

I brushed the imaginary dust from my shoulders, "What can I say, my lineage _is_ legendary." Turning my nose up I tittered, "Ever heard of my kaa-chan Senju Mitama, The Shinigami?"

She gave a theatrical gasp, mockingly pressing the back of her hand to her forehead, " _You're_ the daughter of the great Mitama-sama? Forgive me for my insolence."

I give her acting an appreciative nod, sliding my hand into hers as we walked the rest of the way. I spotted the Konoha gates not soon afterwards. Great big looming doors swung wide open. I spotted the chakra signature before seeing his appearance, and from what I could tell, neither of them were particularly impressive. This severe lack of security was unsettling. Especially in a time of war- I closed my eyes, reaching out my senses, several faint signatures lurked not far off the road we had just come from. I bent on one knee, pressing an index finger to the ground. A team of five to the south east, another team of five to the west, despite the chakra being well suppressed, I could sense the refined edge to each individual signature.

Kaa-chan waited for me to finish my assessment with an indulgent smile. I returned her smile with an unabashed one and we continued our way. The guard straightened up as he saw us approaching. He immediately registered the person in front of him and bowed. "S-senju-sama, what can I help you with?"

Mother waved at him dismissively, "Maa, drop the formalities. And to answer, we're here to stay for good. First on the agenda would be paying Hiruzen-sama a visit." She mused, giving the chuunin a wink.

The man turned a distressing crimson and spluttered a bit before giving us a nod and a 'have a nice day'. Did I mention mum was an absolute bombshell of a Yamato Nadeshiko?

True to her words, I was dropped into a bath as soon as we enter our hotel room. I emerged from the little swim all prim and proper moments later. I donned a kimono that had koi fish adorned at the bottom and the Senju clan symbol stitched across the back. Gathering my pale hair into her hands, she twisted it into a braided bun that sat neatly atop my head, securing it with a butterfly kanzashi. Why I had to look this way, I had no idea. Wouldn't it be more respectful to present myself in ninja attire to the leader of a ninja village? I didn't voice these concerns after checking myself out in the mirror.

I looked every bit the Senju heiress that I was. It brought a smile to my lips as I stood sideways awkwardly, trying to catch a better look at the Senju symbol that mum had threaded through all my clothes.

The village was lively and warm, children pranced about chasing each other, and street vendors boisterously advertised their products. However the first tinges of a looming war had already taken place. There was an odd film of unsettledness that covered the villagers. Looking closer, the smiles were a little forced and the voices lacked colour. Unrest and fear weighed heavily on everyone. Here and there, hushed whispers would penetrate through the loudness of the bustling village. I felt the damp coldness leak back into my stomach. Tugging at mum's sleeve, I asked to see Uncle Sakuma after visiting the Hokage.

"I was thinking of going tomorrow and setting up the compound first, but that's actually a great idea. I'll ask him to babysit you for a bit and then I'll come pick you up after I've finished all the official business."

I pouted, "I don't need to be babysat."

"I won't be gone long, and think about it, you'll have your own proper bedroom in the Senju compound right afterwards."

I brightened up at the mention of the compound. That had been one of the few things I looked forward to during our move. I could already breathe in the legacy from here. The wooden panels that the Shodaime had no doubt produced himself, and walked upon and slept upon and eaten upon. I sighed in content.

There was no one who deserved as much respect as my great granduncle who had to put up with rude ass prats every day of his life. I shuddered, imagining the patience you'd have to channel hanging around Uchiha Madara and my stupid great grandfather. Not to mention his legendary mokuton and charisma that lead the world into the beginnings of a peaceful era. If mum had allowed this admiration to fester, it would no doubt evolve into a full blown obsession. I then wondered if Hashirama had legions of fan girls pinning after him back in the day. I shook away an image of Senju girls dog piling great granduncle.

Passing into the more ninja populated section of the village, more people started recognising kaa-chan. Or so I gathered from the excessive bowing and gushing. Kaa-chan just returned the warm attention with smiles and nods. We entered the Hokage tower with few hiccups. Mum's amiable expression soon turned sour as we neared the Hokage's office. A man exited with barely concealed fury and I could immediately tell that this was the source of kaa-chan's soiled mood. "Shimura-san." She clipped, laconic.

If he was shocked he covered it well, "Mitama-san. It's been too long." He stressed the 'too' enough warning me that this was nothing as simple as just a cordial exchange. His eyes flickered to me in interest, "And your daughter I presume. She's grown up well."

I bowed my head slightly, "It's nice to meet you, my name's Kareha."

"So polite. How wonderful." His airy tone contrasted with his tender choice of words. I schooled my expression as to not betray my annoyance. Was he mocking me?

He addressed kaa-chan. "Well I have business to attend to. My apologies for this inadequate welcoming." Then to me he gave an ominous. "I hope to see you soon, Kareha."

I pressed my lips into a thin line as I felt his gaze still lingering on me. I couldn't bring myself to answer him and it didn't seem like he expected one as he swept away as quickly as he had arrived.

Mum's voice pierced through the thick air. "Beware of that man Kareha. He has a lot of political sway and enough underhanded machinations to not have to rely on it."

There was something unnerving about the man. His chakra resembled parasite squirming beneath his skin. I detected something else in his signature, something foreign but oddly familiar, that seemed agitated as it clashed against his own chakra reserves.

I nodded at kaa-chan who seemed appeased for now. She suddenly had an excited look to her as she knocked on the office door. She gave me a cheeky smile, pressing a finger to her lips and winking. Curiosity rose up. "Come in."

She pushed open the door and I was met with one Sarutobi Hiruzen drowning in paperwork and exhaustion. I bowed, "Hokage-sama." His eyes met mine and the cigar promptly dropped from his mouth as he gaped at me. "Sensei…"

Bewildered I looked to my mother for help. She laughed at the two of us, pressing me into her side affectionately. "She really does look like him doesn't she? I keep telling her she's practically her great grandfather's mini-me but she just insists that she's more like Hashirama-sama. The way she idolises that man…" she shook her head amusedly.

"I- never in a million years… So this is little Kareha-chan. The likeliness is truly uncanny." He rubbed at his face tiredly. "I actually thought sensei's ghost had come to reprimand me for a good moment." At that time, he seemed decades older and adopted an abstracted look in his eyes. He quickly broke out of it, standing up and bringing kaa-chan into a hug. "Senju Mitama is back, everything is in order once more." He looked over at me with a grandfatherly gaze, "And she's even brought back a precious little Senju with her."

I blushed under the praise. "It's an honour to meet the God of Shinobi, Hokage-sama."

He had a sheepish smile as he rested a hand on my head. "It really is a sight, seeing my sensei's lookalike speaking to me." He shook out of his reverie, "It's a great pleasure to finally meet you Kareha-chan. I wish I could say I had heard a lot about you," he shoots a teasing jab at kaa-chan, "You really should've sent me at least a letter or two."

Kaa-chan gave him an apologetic smile. He claps his hands together, "Well what brings you two here, I doubt it was limited to paying this old man a visit."

"Hiruzen-sama!" a scandalised kaa-chan exclaimed.

He let out a gruff chuckle, "Only joking. Although I would assume you'd like me to return the Senju compound?"

Kaa-chan blushed a delicate pink, coughing slightly she continued, "Yes, Kareha and I were planning to settle back into the compound."

Hokage-sama gave an understanding nod, "All's set and ready. The blood seals are all intact from when you left."

My eyes widened at the mention of blood seals that had most likely been created by Mito-sama herself. Hokage-sama seemed to sense my interest on the subject and asked, "Are you interested in sealing, Kareha-chan?"

I nodded my head. "I'm on my way to becoming a seal master."

He adorned a fond look, "Oh? And why is that? I would've thought kids these days would be more interested in the flashy ninjutsu."

"Fuinjutsu _is_ flashy!" I said defensively before realising how childish that sounded. The two adults burst into laughter. Wait, that hadn't even been the point I was trying to make.

"Well you're not wrong there Kareha-chan. I'm looking forward to seeing you doing great _flashy_ things in the future."

I blushed again. "Good." I muttered.

He smiled good naturedly, "You remind me of one of my students a lot."

I creased my brows. He couldn't be insinuating Tsunade and I were similar, could he? "I'm sorry but in what way?" I blurted out in unison with mum. We both looked at Hokage-sama and then to each other.

He burst into laughter. "Like mother, like daughter, huh?" his chuckled died down as he gave a quiet sigh. "I guess it isn't exactly a good thing to be compared to my wayward students. Jiraiya might be a bit socially unacceptable with his _associations_ with women but he's a good kid. Really passionate about the things that matter to him." He shot me a wink. "And he has a real knack with fuinjutsu. If he drops by the village, I'll send him straight to you for a little introductory."

"Definitely not Hiruzen-sama, that lecherous geezer's going nowhere near my precious dumpling. If he can recall all the previous experiences he's had with the beat down Tsunade and I have given to him, he'll act accordingly."

"Is he really that bad?" I prompted. And as expected the flame in her eyes reached a molten burn.

"That old man takes advantage of every female, although I guess in a twisted way the fact that he's not discriminatory is somewhat redeeming. I saw him going after a grandmother and her poor granddaughter once. I can just guess what he was thinking, two birds one stone. That little leech, just thinking about it puts an itch to my fist."

Hokage-sama winces and inches backwards. "Haha, the topic of Jiraiya always gets the female population sparked up,"

"Hm, and not in a good way. Well, we're off now, got things to do and places to be. Make sure to join us for dinner some time Hiruzen-sama, we have a lot to catch up on!" Kaa-chan scooted us out of the room. Before we left, I heard a quiet "Sorry and thank you for coming back." and one look to kaa-chan told me that she had heard it also.

As we walked to Uncle Sakumo's, kaa-chan asked how I felt about the hokage. I replied that he was too old for his job and received a smack on the head. "Hiruzen-sama is still young, little kids will never understand." She stopped before glancing down at me mischievously, "Speaking of little kids, Hiruzen-sama has a son around your age called Asuma." She wiggled her eyebrows at me and I scoffed. "Actually never mind, last I remembered, the boy's a decade older than you. I won't accept it!"

She rang the doorbell of a decently sized complex. "Stop having a one sided conversation with yourself. I never said I would be marrying him."

"You never know Kareha, fate has weird ways of messing with people. But just in case-"

"-Mitama?" A dishevelled man opened the door, revealing his messy silver hair and a chin of light stubble. He had a weary look in his eyes and fatigue of a man on his death bed. He was in standard konoha ninja attire, sans the flak jacket and forehead protector.

I drank in his appearance with cold trepidation and worry. This shell of a man wasn't my- "Uncle Sakumo?"

He looked down at me and a brief smile broke onto his face. "What is my little Kareha-hime doing here?"

I relaxed, gifting him a delighted beam. "We're here to visit you! And we're staying for good." Parroting mum.

Kaa-chan leaned on the door frame coolly, "So are you going to force us to stand outside for the whole day, Sakumo?"

He blinked, "Oh, my bad, come in, come in."

He served us some tea, "So what have you two been up to, it's been a good half year since I've seen you guys huh?"

"I've spent every day missing you, Uncle Sakumo." I replied with a sly grin.

He dissolved into sheepish laughter, rubbing the back of his head shyly. "As have I for you, Kareha-hime."

I grinned. "I've started on unravelling the hiraishin. I think I'm slowly getting there. I've done a bit more research on space time fuinjutsu and there seems to be quite some correlation between each design I've seen and I doubt the hiraishin would be any different. I've got the outline done and filled in bits and pieces of the formulae. The intersection of the first and second set in the first tier is quite a pain though. I - " I looked up at the two adults who had taken to watching me with matching indulgence. I stared down at my lap, "I'm rambling aren't I?"

He ruffled my hair, "You'll get there. I believe in you."

"Well looks like I'm not needed here. You two have your quality sappy bonding time, and I'll be off." Kaa-chan stood up, "I've got a couple of things to take care of, Sakumo, would you care to babysit Kareha for a little bit? I'll bring around dinner in few."

"It'd be my pleasure spend time with the pretty young lady."

"Yup, and that's my cue to leave. Have a good time children. Thanks again, Senpai." Kaa-chan left the room before shunshinning. "Don't call me that!" Uncle Sakumo called after her.

A peaceful quiet settled between us as I sighed contently into the tea. Uncle Sakumo was oddly reserved, it was a little disconcerting. "Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

He shrugged out of his stupor and glanced at me warily. A shaky smile plastered itself unwilling, "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" his voice cracked slightly at the end and I felt my heart drop to my stomach.

"Uncle…" I crawled in his lap and hugged him around the middle. Kaa-chan's words echoed in my mind. _"Are they going to execute Uncle Sakumo?" "I suppose the guilt would end up doing the job."_

I clenched tightly onto his shirt. "You're my hero you know that? If I ever have the honour of going into battle with you, I'd trust you with my life. If I had to handpick members on a mission, I'd choose you to have my back over anyone else." I nodded righteously, before adding as an afterthought. "Not even Hashirama-sama," for good measure.

He gave a broken laugh, "Thank you, hime." He wrapped his arms around me, shuddering into my small form. I held my breath for a long while, not daring to break the fragile silence between us. I waited patiently for his façade to unravel and for everything to come crumbling down. His weakness was safe with me, I'd be patient.

He tried to steady himself with stilted intakes, each breath trembled worse than the last before he let go, body wracking with convulsions of deep sorrow. He pressed his face into my hair, groaning in agony, trying to release all the pain and emotions. My chest prickled and throbbed as I listened to his torment. The last fragments of his pride remained as he attempted to muffle his cries, coughing out strangled nonsensical words. I could feel the wetness touching the crown of my head and couldn't help but start crying also. And as god would have it, I was not a pretty or quiet crier. I wailed into his shirt, using it as a wiping cloth for my tears, snot and all. Embarrassingly enough, he had recovered before me and was fixed with the responsibility of comforting me instead. After a while, I had calmed down enough to mumble a quiet, "I love you."

He released a coarse laugh, "I love you too."

I retired into a comfortable sitting position in his lap, cup of tea relieving me from my hiccups which were a constant consequence of crying.

"So, Mitama told you about the mission huh?" he didn't sound impressed with kaa-chan revealing such sensitive information to a kid. I hummed in assent.

"Kaa-chan likes to tell me everything, she says she doesn't want me to grow up clueless and ignorant. I have a responsibility to uphold as the Senju heiress. Plus when it comes to family, there's nothing that should be hidden."

I don't think he trusted himself to speak because he just nodded and pat my head. I felt warm and secure in his lap. I didn't want to lose anyone to this war, I couldn't. But there were many things I was capable of doing but unfortunately wishful thinking was not one of them.

"Hey Uncle, if kaa-chan dies, will you take care of me?" I turn my head to see him staring at me, clearly upset.

"Hime, why would you ask that?"

I took a deep breath, avoiding his searching eyes. "Senju Mitama is a powerful shinobi, I know that… but when she's in battle, she'll be nothing but a major target. To put it crudely, I'm not confident that she'll be able to defend against those who want to exterminate the Senju clan." "She's is a glass canon, able to dish out devastating jutsus, but is also very susceptible to enemy attacks. And knowing her, she'd place herself smack bang in the middle of the frontlines." My voice faltered. I was trying to be rational and objective but the truth was painful. I clammed my mouth shut, pressing my lips tightly together. If I continued to speak, I was afraid I would dissolve into more crying.

Uncle pressed my face into his chest and sighed. "I'm sorry that I failed that mission, hime, but I promise that if your kaa-chan is at the frontlines, that I'll be right beside her, fighting and protecting her."

"Stupid." I hit him lightly on the shoulder. "The war would've come regardless of whether you failed that mission or not. And have you been listening? I don't want any of you on the frontlines." I knew I sounded like a petulant child but I hoped that they would understand it as desperation, so that they would try that extra bit harder to return to me in one piece.

Dinner was a warm affair. Kaa-chan had returned with ramen and a few sticks of dango for the sweet tooth in Uncle. I wrinkled my nose at him digging into the balls of sugar heartily. Mum began animatedly regaling tales of 'Captain Hatake' who she had had a crush on as a young kunoichi. Her theatrical exaggeration of her younger fan girl-self and her spot on high pitched squeals made me almost believe her. She took a lot of joy in shamelessly teasing Uncle who wouldn't stop blushing throughout the whole conversation. Halfway through dinner the door opened and closed quietly. I sensed a familiar chakra signature. Must be Kakashi. I glanced at Uncle's grim face and gathered this to be true.

I had never met Kakashi in real life. But on Uncle's occasional visits to our old house, he would talk about his prodigy of a son ceaselessly. It was endearing, really, but when you've heard the same story of Kakashi single-handedly wiping out a group of bandits at 5 and a half, it gets quite old. I swear I knew more about Kakashi than he knew about himself. I sighed. And I happened to also glean that Kakashi was a major stickler for rules and a bit of a Nidaime in the making. The father and son duo must not be on great terms as of now then. Judging by the slight fluctuations, Kakashi's chakra full heartedly agreed.

He stared at our little mismatched group eating dinner, before pretending we weren't there and moving past us.

"Kakashi." He paused in his step. "Have you eaten?" He didn't reply and continued to walk, presumably into his bedroom. Uncle Sakumo placed down his chopsticks and sighed. Kaa-chan shot him a pitying look.

"The boy will grow out of it. I'm sure Kakashi-kun is just trying to adjust, he'll come around. All teenagers go through this stage. I'm really dreading the day Kareha hits puberty."

I copied uncle and also placed down my chopsticks. "I don't need the hormones to start acting out. If you'd like, I could give a demonstration now. A free trial of a month of pubescent Kareha if you will." I receive a light smack on the arm for being snarky.

Finishing off the last of my ramen with a loud slurp, I shot Uncle Sakumo a meaningful look and excused myself. "You guys need some adult catch up time right?"

Kaa-chan looked at me curiously and decided to entertain me. "That's very thoughtful of you Kareha, but where will you go?"

I faltered. That was true. "I- I'll go hang out with Kakashi-kun!"

The two adults simultaneously shot me incredulous looks. Uncle stuttered slightly, "Uh, hime I don't think that's a good idea."

"Too late." I said, rushing in the direction of Kakashi's bedroom.

You'd think that with all my confidence I'd just burst into Kakashi's bedroom and we'd hit it off. Well, that was not exactly the situation I found myself in. I sat outside his bedroom in a strange predicament where we both knew that I was sitting outside and nobody was going to do anything about it. It was ok, I just had to wait it out. Convincing kaa-chan to join the support barracks wasn't going to take that long, was it?

Oh, who was I kidding? It'd be a miracle if this conversation would last less than two hours and even more of a miracle if kaa-chan agreed. I braced myself for the long wait.

Boredom. It was pure torture. The under stimulation of the mind if not for its time consumption would be a formidable T&I technique. I sighed, gathering water natured chakra to my palm, I tried to draw moisture from the air. After holding my breath for a few moments, one droplet of water deposited itself meekly upon my palm. Oh for gods sak-

Kakashi opened his door and scanned me with an unimpressed stare and then moved his focus to the little droplet of water in my palm. His unimpressed stare grew even more so. I deflated. At least the droplet had been slightly larger than the one I managed to produce this morning.

He moved to close the door, when I stuck my foot in the way. "I challenge you, your best jutsu against mine."

A strange indiscernible emotion passed his face as he scoffed before going back into his bedroom. I felt disheartened until he returned shortly with all his ninja gear. My eyes widened in disbelief, how seriously was he taking this? I was less than half his age! He then shot me a cruel smirk and gestured for me to follow him. I was not looking forward to this beat down of the century.

As we passed by kaa-chan and uncle, they both quietened, disbelief blatantly showing. I gave them a small two fingered salute and a cheeky grin (false bravado) as I followed Kakashi out.

We stood in a small clearing behind the house. He crossed his arms tapping his feet impatiently on the ground. "Name your price. What are we betting on?" I developed a shrewd twitch in my finger as I said this.

He looked at me warily before smirking again, "When I win, you can't speak for a whole month."

I gasped. "That's low, Kakashi-san. It'll be like foregoing your mask for a month. It's not possible."

"Oh? If you're that worried you can pull out now." he turned to leave.

"Wait! I'll do it. My condition for winning is, I get to call you whatever I want for the rest of our lifetimes." If there was the slightest chance I won, I might as well milk it for what it was worth. I stuck out my hand which he took gingerly and we shook on it.

"My jutsu takes a while to create so you'll just have to watch for a while to make sure I'm not cheating." He raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing. I unsealed my sealing material and started drawing out the most dangerous seal I knew and had just completed learning. "After I've finished drawing the seal, I'll be using it on one of the trees over there," I pointed at the light beginnings of a forest a few metres away.

He hovered behind me curiously as I started drawing. Twenty minutes later I stood up proudly, wiping off my hands and rolling my shoulders. I took a step back. "All done. Ladies first." I gestured at one of the trees that he was about to victimise.

He sighed, motioning me to step backwards. He went through the hand signs slightly unfamiliarly, calling upon condensed lightning chakra to his hand, immediately the sound of chirping birds lit up the air. He started running towards the trees, shooting through three in a row before the chakra fizzled out unsteadily. I gaped unabashedly, what the hell? It was some sort of nature transformation, a highly concentrated ball of sparking lightning chakra. I couldn't discern much else, it happened way too fast and I hadn't had the preparation to analyse it properly in those short moments.

"Tch." The electricity had licked at his clothes, singing the ends of his sleeve. He shook out his hand and sighed before turning to me with expectantly.

I wiped the palms of my hand on my kimono and strode towards a tree, transferring the seal so that the formulae slithered onto the grooves of the tree. I gulped, waving at Kakashi to clear off. I bound back myself, holding a hand seal, before releasing it along with a large amount of chakra, "Kai!"

I fell to one knee as the seal flashed red and disappeared. A high pitched whining sound echoed across the clearing. A growing white sphere encompassed the tree, circling it and pulsing for a moment before folding in on itself and disappearing along with a major chunk of the tree. The remains of the tree collapsed to the forest floor with a loud crash. I panted, pushing myself unsteadily to my feet.

"W-What was that?" As emotionally stunted as he was, Kakashi was indeed able to sound distressed, I mused as my vision started swimming in front of me.

I gave up trying to stand up and plopped unceremoniously to my butt. Staring at the remains of the tree I let out a small huff of disappointment. "It's a fuinjutsu assisted version of a nature transformation kekkei tota. I've been researching a way to combine all nature releases just to see where it takes me. From my understanding, combining all five nature releases has the potential to breathe life into inanimate objects, or even the dead." I heard Kakashi suck in air through his teeth. That was right, his mother had passed away hadn't she. I shook my head sadly. The future of this seal was grim. "This seal took half of Uzumaki Mito-sama's lifetime to finish and it isn't even the completed product."

"Which elements have you managed to incorporate?"

I stared up at his thoughtful look. "This was dust release, a mix of techniques that are fire, earth and wind-based chakra. The tsuchikage is well known for this jutsu. It's not a bloodline release so I can copy it with the assistance of seals. As you can tell, I'm not very proficient at it, I had to change the seal from Mito-sama's to complement my own chakra pathways and as a result, it takes ages to ready and I can only manage to implode a small amount of area." I looked back down at the forest floor, yanking a few blades of grass out. "I guess you win then, Kakashi-san, you managed to mow down three trees after all."

He scoffed. "You're such a child, just call me Kakashi."

I paused. I stared. I blinked. "What?" I asked dumbly.

He dragged a hand through his hair. "Kakashi-san makes me sound like an old man. Just call me Kakashi."

He… he was going to let me win. He winced away from my blinding smile. "Oh, but I…" he looked down at me. I blushed slightly, "I've depleted my chakra reserves. Can you get my kaa-chan?"

He rolled his eyes before crouching in front of me. My eyes widened. Was I worming my way into the ice cube's heart? I wrapped my arms around his neck as he lifted me up. "Thank you Kakashi-nii." He paused in his step minutely before going ahead. I smiled brightly, chin resting on his shoulder. That was right, I could call him whatever and he had no say about it. If he thought he was wriggling his way out of this one with just 'Kakashi' then he was dead wrong. This was the best day ever.

The look on the two adults' faces as we came back in was spectacular. Kaa-chan had a stupefied expression paired with Uncle Sakumo who gaped like a drowning goldfish. Kakashi-nii shrugged me into kaa-chan's hold and left. I waved at his back, "See you, Kakashi-nii!" he made no notice of it and disappeared into the dark hallway.

Uncle Sakumo stared at me like I was Amaterasu herself gazing down on a faithful servant. I felt extremely awkward at the way his eyes sparkled at me. "Uh, uncle?"

He grasped my hand in his and gave me a purposeful nod. One that said 'I leave my son in your capable hands'. I just froze, stunned.

That night being piggybacked home by kaa-chan, it almost felt like nothing had changed. In fact, things were becoming more exciting. The evening lights dance across the streets and there was a soft muted chatter of nightlife that made me feel oddly at home. "Why did you do something so thoughtless? You can die from chakra exhaustion you know."

I nodded into her shoulder then proceeded to explain my actions self-consciously. "I made a bet that whoever had the better jutsu got a wish granted to them by the other."

Mum cracked up laughing. "Gambling? You've got too much Senju blood running through those veins, Kareha." I was too tired to question her and left it at that. It probably just another comparison to Tobirama.

Kaa-chan deposited me into my bed and I fell asleep before I could insist on exploring the compound. The last words that escaped from my lips brought a smile to her face. "Let's go see the Hatake's tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

Hi, all! Just a quick A/N. So to answer a lovely reviewer, Kareha is sandwiched between Itachi and Shisui in age. The dates for the Third Shinobi War aren't explicitly stated, so I'm taking the liberty to tweak things around to better accommodate the direction of the story. Things will make more sense as the story progresses. Hold out and enjoy!

* * *

It would be another week before we visited the Hatake's again. Kaa-chan was preoccupied with refurbishing the compound and tending to garden and when she wasn't taking care of the household, she'd be catching up with her friends and by default I would be also. Needless to say, I did not have a lot of time to do my own thing or explore the village.

I had discovered that mum was alarmingly well connected with many high status names. In the last couple of days, we not only had the Hokage and his family come over to visit, but also clan representatives from the Hyuuga, Yamanaka and Aburame clans. Every day had been a guessing game at what big shot would be arriving at the Senju compound. The exposure of it all had me pretty much immune to the suffocation that typically accompanied interactions with distinguishable figures. Knowing kaa-chan, that was exactly what she was going for.

At each event, there would be a massive clashing of egos and stiff posturing. At one point all anxiety had given way to ire instead. It was extremely tiring watching the clan heads go at it like little children with a need to prove themselves. Kaa-chan was unrelenting with her cool hospitality, pressing their buttons like nobody's business. It was as if she was trying to state something with every slight gesture she made. Trying to decipher what was purposeful and what was just kaa-chan being kaa-chan made my head spin. Asserting dominance, she would say after the guests had left, giving me a wink.

The Senju compound was simplistic yet elegant. And it shouldn't have been that surprising, but just the residency stretched on for ages. It was incredibly expansive, and the place thrummed with chakra. The only way to describe it would be a sentient castle. I had thrown out a wave of chakra in frustration one time and surprisingly had the walls responding with its own soothing ebbs of chakra. I tried not to freak out too much and chalked it up to Hashirama's superior architectural expertise.

Two days in and I had already claimed four bedrooms for myself. Three of which that had the explicit purpose of being napped in. I specifically chose the ones that would be the most secluded from the streets. It would make sense that flickering chakra signatures bounding through at an ungodly time of the night tended to distress chakra supersensitive individuals, like myself. These ninjas had no respect for the sleep deprived. Any amount of slight alteration in the air and I'd be rudely awoken, much to my chagrin.

Konoha had none of the tranquillity of our old home. It was times like these as I lay in bed unable to sleep a wink that the homesickness filtered in. Konoha was vibrant and filled to the brim with life but it was also at times hectic – easy for one to lose themselves in.

We tried sealing off my sensory abilities completely. It was a rough night. Not only was the sudden detachment from the world suffocating, but I was incessantly tossing in bed clutching a kunai to my chest waiting for the shadows to lash out.

Eventually I settled for a sweet spot next to kaa-chan. It seemed her ocean wide chakra was the most effective in blanking out foreign signatures.

The fourth bedroom was my pride. A projects room, reinforced with so many seals that a thousand exploding tags could be set off at once and no one would know better. Currently, the floors were a sea of loose paper and scrolls with the odd history book dotted here and there. I was working on the hiraishin again, making very slow progress. I had hit a wall. Without the guidance of another I'd be forever confined to this grey area of mediocre fuinjutsu. That wouldn't do, I decided I'd have to take it into my own hands to find an instructor.

I leapt up, pulling on a kimono and tying a battle obi around my waist, attaching a large sealing scroll to it at the lower back. As of now, winning over a seal master was the only definite. I practiced a cute smile in the mirror until reaching a satisfying result. Uncle had always said to embrace the things god had given you. I'm not sure if manipulating others with your appearance was what he had intended for it to mean.

"Kaa-chan! I'm going out!" I hollered.

"Right! Be back before dinner! We have guests!"

I pushed down the groan. Of course there would be. I brushed the bangs from my face. "Got it! I'm off!"

"Have fun!"

Oh I would.

A few hours later found me looking dejectedly at the hokage monument. It was three long hours of tentative prodding at weaponry stores but coming out empty handed. Apparently sealing wasn't a very popular art form and even the most accomplished ninja barely dabbled in it. A shame really, fuinjutsu was arguably the most powerful, limitless shinobi art.

I sighed, somehow finding myself glaring at Nidaime's ugly mug. How could anyone say that I looked like him? Even as a rock, he managed to convey an endlessly amount of displeasure and a haughtiness unrivalled by anyone. I slanted my gaze beside him to Hashirama, the gentle kindness emanating in waves. I sighed once more. Had one of them actually been adopted?

I perked up at a familiar chakra signature that pricked at my right. At first I thought it was Uncle Sakumo until I discerned the slightly less mature and static edge. Kakashi!

I bounded off in his direction until I zeroed in on a mop of gravity defying silver hair. Leaning my weight onto my back foot, I abruptly shot off like a bullet. "Kashi-kun!" I cooed, my arms wrapping around the leg of his pants as I craned my neck to observe his reaction.

He looked slightly fazed but otherwise emotionless. "Senju." He acknowledged.

My smile wavered and I unconsciously frowned at his offhand address and lack of response. He noticed and gave me a 'what' look. In a bored voice and a roll of the eyes he intoned, "You never gave me your name."

I almost fell for it, my hand twitching up to face palm. That was until I noticed the mocking crease hugging the mask at where his mouth should be. His demeanour was one of a sore loser and I would not be letting him get off so light. I pouted, "There's no way Uncle didn't mention me to you. What's my name?" I pressed.

He was about to reply when a man came up beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Kakashi, you didn't tell me about your little sister."

I craned my neck further to stare at the man with sunny blonde hair and bright blue eyes. The sunlight streaming in from behind him crowned him in a halo. If I squinted hard enough, I would smell flowers blooming and see the chorusing birds that had begun to flutter about his head. He cocked his head off to the side, a playful smile lighting up the whole village. I swear from behind me, there were at least five females put out of commission and a collective sigh of admiration from the rest of the female population that managed to stay upright.

I however blinked. A singular thought passed through my mind.

Flaky.

I suddenly remembered my manners and bowed, "Nice to meet you, I'm Senju Kareha."

He smiled sunnily. "Nice to meet you too Kareha. My name's Namikaze Minato, I'm Kakashi-kun's jounin sensei."

Wait. This pansy- I mean- this jounin was Kakashi-nii's sensei? I returned a well-practiced smile. "He must owe many of his accomplishments to you then." I sneakily shot a disdainful look at Kakashi.

He smiled bashfully, hand going to the back of his head, rubbing it sheepishly. "Maa, it's all Kakashi-kun really."

Kakashi-nii lightened up at the praise but not enough to wipe the perpetual frown on his face. "Sensei, we need to report to Hokage-sama."

I straightened. "Oh. Did you guys just come back from a mission? You must be tired. I'm sorry for holding you up." I turned to address Kakashi with a pointed look. "I'll see you later then." I brushed myself off before running off.

"I don't know why I thought this would be a good idea." I muttered, kicking up some dirt as I went. Since bumping into Kakashi and his sensei, I had sniffed around for more leads on a fuinjutsu master to no avail. The best I got was a snarky drunk old man pointing me towards the bath house. "There might be a pervert laying around here or there to pass you a few pointers." He told me. I bit down on my tongue to avoid giving him a demonstration of my fully functional vocal cords. He scoffed at my dismissal, hiccupping as he shooed me away. I gratefully took this escape. A dead man would not be doing anybody any favours at this point of time.

I tried to entertain myself with some exploration at Senju Park. Instead of the relief I expected, I managed to get even more riled up at the hushed whispers that followed me. Was it that surprising to see a Senju at her own park?! Well, it wasn't exactly my park, but Hashirama had no doubt planted the trees himself. I must hold some form of ownership over this architectural genius, as his descendent. At the millionth unsubtle pointing of the finger, I upped and left, storming from the place with my hair whipping behind me.

Miffed and dejected I trudged into one of the training grounds to unleash my fury onto some unsuspecting trees. Sweeping into the basic Senju clan kata I tore into the closest tree. In my vexation, I unconsciously channelled wind chakra into my strike and fell a few trees. This continued beyond the point where my hands were numb from pounding into the trunk and my fists dripped with blood. An hour later, I dropped to the ground, sweaty and bloody. Flexing my fingers gingerly, I grimaced in pain as the cuts on my fists stretched.

Thumping my hands back into the grass beside me I heaved a sigh, panting heavily. The wind had finally calmed into a soft breeze. Closing my eyes against the harsh sunlight I allowed myself to revel in some precious moments of peace and quiet…

…Until I sensed a signature hovering from above. My eye twitched in annoyance. Ninjas. Ninjas everywhere. They infested the place like undying cockroaches. I waited for the little intruder to make its move.

"Are you ok?" a childish voice asked finally.

I peeked open an eye. Not bothering to move my head, I let my line of sight drift in the direction of his voice. I took in his appearance, a small boy perched on a branch. Black hair. Black Eyes. Pretty features. "Uchiha." I stated.

He nodded unsurely, as if he was at a lost at how to respond to such a sudden brazen tone. He neared my side cautiously, footsteps light and finger twitching. I sneered at his unnecessary wariness. "If it makes you feel any safer, I can't move a muscle let alone use any chakra."

He followed my line of sight, eyes flickering down to his own hand that was reaching towards his kunai pouch. His eyes widened before he straightened up abruptly. Huh, would you look at that. A trained, trigger happy child soldier. Not like I was on my way to becoming anything different I mused bitterly. I tried to push myself up from my elbows before crashing back into the ground painfully. Immediately he was kneeling beside me and I found myself hefted into his arms bridle style. I flailed, a squeak of distress leaving my lips. He watched me amusedly, inky black orbs blinking innocently. "Do you need help?" he asks.

I looked away, a crimson hue fluttering against my cheeks. "Usually you ask before you do. Uchiha."

"Ah, must've slipped my mind." His whisper brush against the shell of my ear, as he breathed a quiet 'sorry'. He pulled back, sporting a perky smile.

I cleared my throat. "What now?"

If it was possible, his smile widened as mirth shone brightly in his eyes. "Now I kidnap you to keep me company."

I nodded slowly before blanching at his words. "P-pardon?"

He mistakes my outrage for something else entirely. "Don't worry, I'll patch you up first." He reassured and started bounding across the rooftops to what I presumed was the Uchiha district. I shifted uncomfortably. It was no secret that our ancestors weren't on very amicable terms. That had been one of the reasons why I had been so hostile to the Uchiha in the first place. I wasn't sure if I was going to be received well and throwing myself into a pack of them wasn't the smartest idea.

Although this boy… what was he doing at a secluded training ground? I doubt it was for a relaxing midday stroll. Didn't he have academy to attend or anything better to do with his time than to interrupt people's therapeutic exercises? I tried glancing at the Uchiha discreetly, but he caught my gaze and grinned at me.

"W-what, a-aren't you like six or something?" I spluttered, serving him up with a Kareha special, the infamous trashy distraction.

"I'm seven actually."

I faltered. This is awkward, I had meant that as an insult. Despite his meagre height, I suspected that he would've been at least 9. How could someone so young be so strong? There was lag in which my brain slowly caught up to the queries. And then a moment of silence where I just bathed in my own stupidity. My inner thoughts breathed out an airy, 'Ah, because he's an Uchiha.'

He shifted me in his arms so that my Senju clan symbol was hidden more securely. So he wasn't unaware of the tension between our clans either. There were hundreds of years of bad blood between the two clans, a mere few decades of relative peace had nothing on the curse of hatred. However with this particular Uchiha, I decided I was in relatively safe hands - arms. We entered the Uchiha district and many of the Uchiha there greeted him familiarly. One of them referred to me as his 'little girlfriend'. I bristled slightly at that. The Uchiha just waved it off with an easy-going smile.

He made a stop at a small shop off the side of the road. Sliding me onto a bench and motioning me to stay. "I won't be long, I'm just going to grab some senbei." False concern flickered across his features, "You won't be lonely on your own though, right?" I made to shove him roughly but he danced out of my wrath nimbly, laughing like the little twat he was. "I want nori senbei! You're so dead if you come back with the sweet kind." I called after him.

He threw me a quick salute before disappearing into the store.

"Good choice, little Senju." I jumped a little at the sudden voice. I turned to see an old man settle on the bench beside me, staring fondly into the shop. "My wife Uruchi and I have run this place for years now. The little bugger always comes to visit. Now I'm not tooting my own horn here, but our secret recipe is to die for. Once you've tasted our infamous Uchiha senbei, there's no turning back."

The Uchiha returned with a paper bag, a jovial smile playing on his lips. "Well, I look forward to seeing you again, Senju-chan." I stilled as he stood up and brushed pass the Uchiha giving him a gruff pat on the back.

What a weird old man. The Uchiha handed me the paper bag for me to hold and slipped a hand under my knees and secured the other across my back. I bit back a surprised squeal. I've had enough embarrassment for one day.

We appeared in front of a small house a little ways off the main street, tucked neatly into the beginnings of the forest. He nudged open the door with his shoulder and I noted guiltily the amount of care he had taken to not jostle me. Placing me down on the edge of the bed he ventured off into the kitchen to retrieve medical supplies.

Taking in the mild scent of burning wood, I glanced at the bareness of the home. There was the odd scroll or two lying about. To the left of where I sat was an unused desk with a dresser standing starkly beside it. A bookcase that was set off to the side had a few books scattered atop the ledges seemingly just for the sake of it. A singular photo was perched on top, depicting a sandy blonde haired boy grinning brightly, his arms wrapped around a blushing girl and the Uchiha. A tall man dressed in standard shinobi wear stood off to the side watching them fondly. It must be his genin team. Aside from the photo frame, there was no other outstanding aspect to the room. It seemed he lived alone.

He returned with some disinfectant and a roll of bandages. Crouching on the floor in front of me, he gestured for my hands. I watched him gently clean the cuts, wincing slightly at the sting. "You know I'm a Senju." It was more of a statement to gauge his reaction but instead, it tumbled out as an ill-sounding accusation. He didn't pay it any attention and replied in a measured tone. "Yes."

Another period of silence. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because I wanted to."

He slowly unravelled the bandages around my hands, securing it in place every few rolls before tying it off at the end. He disappeared with the medical kit. I wriggled the end of my fingers experimentally, swinging my legs back and forth as I waited for him to come back.

He returned with a cup of tea in hand. I took it from him gratefully, not realising how parched I was until now. Letting the warmth of the steaming mug spread into my bandages, I sighed. "So, what did you need my help with?"

He hummed quietly, stuffing a senbei in my mouth before doing the same for himself. I munched quietly, moaning contently on the inside as the savoury treat melted in my mouth. I watched him reaching into a satchel and pull out a large scroll. Splashed across the front was the big lettering 'History of Konoha'.

"Read with me."

I snorted tea. "Are you illiterate?"

He watched me choking on the hot liquid, mildly amused. I thumped my chest, laughing at his poor choice of wording before sobering up. I eyed the scroll interestedly. "Are you sure that's a legitimate recount?"

He shrugged. "Who knows? Hopefully most of the things in here will be as close to factual as possible." He tapped the side of the scroll.

"Well, I guess you could cross check with me. I'm pretty knowledgeable about the likes of Konoha history." Hey, nobody said anything against being confident in your own abilities.

He grinned. "I would think so." Plopping down beside me, he spread open the scroll across our laps.

'The warring states era ended with a truce between the Senju and Uchiha clans. Affiliated clans soon joined the two powerful clans, forming the first shinobi village; Konohagakure named by Uchiha Madara.'

I blinked. "Where did you get this scroll? It sounds…"

"Unbiased? More realistic?" he watched me carefully. "It's from the Uchiha records. Written by a civilian historian."

"Uchiha Madara, huh? I can't believe that man was the one to name Konoha."

"Even if he went rogue, people don't give him enough credit."

I made a noise of agreement. "Anyone who can go toe to toe with Hashirama is not to be underestimated."

He shook his head. "The Uchiha clan made just as many sacrifices and contributed just as much to the village but were returned with only distrust and fear." His eyes were shadowed as he hunched over slightly.

"Hashirama would've never oppressed the Uchiha. Madara acted out for no reason and died for it." "He should've just trusted his best friend." I whispered.

I woke up with a groan and my face pressed against a shoulder that I did not recognise. Pulling back abruptly I was met with a wave of disorientation and slight nausea. "Senju…" somebody breathed as I held my head between my hands. I whimpered slightly, head throbbing from the sudden movement. I felt a hand touch my temple, soothing pulses of chakra working in to relieve the pain. He seemed to act reflexively as if he had done this many times before.

I slowly unfurled from my ball, lifting my head to stare at the Uchiha. How had I managed to fall asleep beside him? Perhaps I was much more worn out than I had initially thought. Things had turned lighter after the initial conversation. I remembered throwing in comments here and there, correcting bits and pieces of the passages we read through. He kept on pulling poor jokes at the expense of several historical figures as I futilely tried to repress the laughter. The discussion slowly faded and at some point, I tired and eventually fell asleep.

"Uchiha." I winced at the crack in my voice. "What time is it?"

He blinked, glancing at the small clock behind me. "Five."

I floundered in panic. "F-five?! I need to get home!" I stood up, swaying on my feet. He grabbed me at my elbows, steadying me.

"I'll take you home." I looked at him questioningly before being unwittingly swept into his arms once more.

"I- you don't have to." I muttered shyly.

"No, it was my fault for keeping you so long. I should've woken you up sooner."

I folded myself into his hold as the wind swept viciously from the high speed we travelled at. It wasn't long before he settled me back on my feet in front of the compound. I watched his longing gaze drift to the soft light spilling from the compound. I shifted my weight to one foot awkwardly. "Thanks Uchiha."

"Do you have Stockholm syndrome? I literally take you hostage and all you have to say is thanks?" he pushed me lightly, nudging me inside. "Go. I'll see you later."

Not giving me a chance to reply, he shunshinned away as kaa-chan appeared. "Kareha? You're getting confident aren't you? Cutting it this close to dinner!"


	3. Chapter 3

Wiping her hands off the front of her apron kaa-chan ushered me in to get clean up. She clicked her tongue at the dirt and grime and shoved me into the bathroom. "You better be sparkling in twenty minutes." She gave me a sharp long before slamming the door on me.

I sighed and began peeling out of my clothes. Jumping in the shower, I allowed the rushing warm water beat away the fatigue that was both physical and mental.

" _Go. I'll see you later."_

My eyes snapped open and I had to smack my face a couple of times to shake myself out of it. I stared at my reflection, fingers lightly tracing the redness casted across my cheeks from my vigorous attempts to not think about the Uchiha boy.

How many years had he been cast off into the world with no one to support him? His faked self-assurance…it was a direct result of years of solitude. Although he seemed to be always smiling, there was always a reservedness that stopped him from being happy, it was as if he could only manage to be content. Content and never anything more.

Running my fingers coarsely through my hair, I watched as the steam swirled above. I felt guilty for my initial abrasiveness. I was too quick to dismiss him as just any other bloodthirsty Uchiha. What's more was that he didn't choose a life of bloodshed and violence, doing what he did was the only way to live.

There was no choice as an orphan, and as an Uchiha no less. And perhaps he was right about his ostracised clan. I certainly was not innocent of discriminating against the Uchiha at the first chance I got.

I felt a pair of chakra signatures fast approaching, an estimated five minutes away and started panicking. Throwing myself out into the cold I quickly wrapped a towel around my body and pattered to my room. Biting back curses, I hopped around pulling clothes on at random. Kaa-chan flickered beside me and helped tie the kimono around me properly, giving me a stern look. It promised pain and a whole lot of explaining. I ducked my head meekly.

With a quick water extraction jutsu, my hair was dried and piled atop my head neatly. I shuffled out to the front to greet the guests. The doors swung open and revealed two figures bickering. They broke apart suddenly when the door flung open. Mum gave a quiet cry and pulled the woman into an embrace as the man watched them with a slight smile. Kaa-chan loosened her hold on the woman just enough so that she could pull the other man into the hug also. The man flailed a bit but soon enough conceded defeat and returned the embrace also. I stood off to the side awkwardly, not understanding the odd dynamics that these newcomers shared with mum. It definitely differed from how she treated the other 'esteemed' visitors.

Kaa-chan eventually pulled away, she turned her back to me pressing her forearm across her eyes. I stilled. Was she crying? I watched in perverse awe as Kaa-chan dabbed her eyes. These people had made my demon of a mother shed tears.

The woman before me, crouched to my height and gave me a warm smile. "Hello, Kareha-chan. I'm Yoshino, your godmother."

My breath hitched. _Your godmother. Your godmother. Your freaking godmother._ It echoed into the recesses of my mind.

"W-what?" My eyes darted to kaa-chan who was watching the scene tenderly. She nodded at me reassuringly and I allowed myself to fall into the woman's opened arms, wide eyed and confused. This was all so, so wrong I thought with my ear pressed against her heartbeat. Why had kaa-chan never mentioned the existence of a godmother? And why was she only being introduced now? If these two really were my godparents, then we were practically family.

I fumed. I had to sit through dinner after dinner with literal strangers because I thought mum had no friends. And I thought I was being considerate! Only now do these two decide to waltz in and get all fresh with me. What ever happened to upholding priorities?

The woman, Yoshino, pulled away, she nodded her head in the direction of the man. "That menacing, no-good husband of mine back there is your godfather, Shikaku." Said man groaned, rolling his eyes before moving forward to pat my head gingerly. "I said I was sorry." He muttered to Yoshino, thinking I couldn't hear him.

I pressed a hand to my mouth, suppressing a giggle. Yoshino caught my eyes and shot me a subtle wink. "Well dinner's ready. Let's catch up over some nice warm food, shall we?" Kaa-chan's barely concealed childish excitement escaped nobody.

"Kareha-chan. Would you like me to heal your wounds?"

I looked up from my untouched meal. Hiding my fists behind my back I shook my head. I mentally berated for making such a big show of hiding it in the first place, it's not like they hadn't noticed, idiot. "No, it's alright. Yoshino-san."

"It's no problem, really. It'll be all healed up in no time." She insisted.

I blanched involuntarily. Why was I being so stubborn on this? The pain and stiffness in my hands were an inconvenience and I had someone openly offering to get rid of it for me.

'Because the Uchiha wouldn't have had somebody to do this for him.' A dark voice whispered in the recesses of my mind.

I tried to change the subject. "So you're a medical ninja, Yoshino-san?"

Her eyes crinkled in amusement. "Not really. I just dabbled a bit in healing and medicinal herbs. I was more of a punching and kicking kunoichi along with your mum, before I got stuck with him." she jutted out a thumb at Shikaku.

Shikaku was smart enough to stay quiet and continued eating as if he heard nothing. I shook my head at their peculiar marital arrangement. Had the two even been willing to marry each other?

I must've had a bewildered expression because Kaa-chan decided to address my concerns. "Don't worry Kareha, that's just how they show their love. We all know your godmother would be _so lonely_ without Shikaku."

Lonely. The Uchiha who had no one. I tasted bitterness on my tongue. Why was I still thinking about him? Somehow seeing him so dedicated to learn and change others around him, had made more of an impact on me than I thought. Helping reckless little girls and then going so far as to reassure them despite it being himself that needed the most reassurance.

If he was so busy caring for others, who would care for him?

I stood up promptly, the harsh sound of scraping wood against the floor cut through the argument that kaa-chan and Yoshino were currently engaged in. I gave the two visitors an apologetic bow. Then heading to the kitchen I took out a bento box and started shovelling food into it.

I spoke in a hurry before mum was able to stop me. "Sorry, Kaa-chan, Yoshino-san, Shikaku-san. I forgot I had somewhere to be. It's super important but I'll be back soon. I'll make up for this disaster I made, I swear." The husband and wife duo seemed a little taken aback but not offended. Giving one last bow, I rushed out the door breathlessly.

I sped through the streets, letting the glowing lights guide me through the nightlife. Dancing around civilians who continued to chat amiably, not noticing as I weaved around them. The hair that had been neatly secured fell apart, tumbling down behind me. Bubbling laughter escaped from my lips as I kicked off from a lamppost to avoid an unknowing couple. Every step and leap was exhilarating. I felt somehow freer and the worry upon my shoulders, less weighted. I pitted myself over a gate to cut through the neighbourhood. Reaching out my senses, I could feel a whole collection of similar chakra signatures all simmering with warmth and fire.

The Uchiha district was in clear sight.

Standing before the Uchiha's little house, I realised how impulsive this idea had been. Perhaps I should just leave the bento box here and leave- "Senju?" –and nope, as kami would have it, my plan would not be carried out as I wanted it to.

I shuffled uneasily in place, holding up the bento. "Hi again." I mumbled awkwardly.

His eyes lit up, a subdued smile taking hold of his face. I could tell he was trying to be polite to save me from embarrassment. "Hi. When I said that I'd be seeing you later, I hadn't meant an hour." He shrugged. "But if you missed me that much, I guess I'll have to let it slide." He was staring at me. I could tell from my periphery but dared not meet his eyes.

He pointed at the bento. "Is that for me?"

I looked down at my feet, drawing circles in the dirt with the front of my sandals. "Yeh." I felt his hand land softly on my head, a gesture of gratitude.

"Thanks." He eased the container from my hand. "But you should go home. I'll eat this well." Giving me a bright grin and a small push.

I nodded dumbly and took a few steps back. "I'll… see you around then." I called, before slipping back into the streets. I let the crowd carry me into their flow, feeling a bit out of it. The weight had been relieved from my chest just for something else to settle in its place. It wasn't a distinguishable feeling. Like something simmering below the water's surface that you can't quite identify, and every time you tried to grasp at it, it would dissipate only to come together again as a murky reflection. Lost in thought, I had just managed to skirt around a figure to avoid bumping into them. I immediately leaned forward to bow and give an apology, but stopped mid bow. This chakra… it was the familiar mix of battling signatures. I looked up and stilled under his heavy one-eyed gaze. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. The oppressive aura around him made the words catch in my throat. I dug my nails into my palm to stop myself from shivering. Grinding my teeth together, I inwardly grimaced at my weakness.

"Kareha-kun, right?" came his gravelly voice.

I bit the inside of my cheek.

"It's been a while since I last saw you. How are you finding Konoha?"

"It's…lively." I replied stiffly.

He gave me an indecipherable look. "I see." There was a slight pause at which I felt his gaze lift from me momentarily to stare at the sky. "Your mother… she is an indispensable weapon, but not an indispensable shinobi. You understand what I mean right?"

I pinned my eyes to the ground, clenching my fists. How dare he threaten her in front of me, I felt an itch in my fist to punch this brazen old man's face in.

He gives a mirthless chuckle at my lack of response. "Don't take offense to that Kareha-kun. Of course, all shinobi are dispensable. Ninjas are only tools, wouldn't you agree? I'm expecting great things from you Kareha-kun. Although, I believe no matter what happens, the blood running through your veins won't disappoint."

Suddenly a warm hand landed on my shoulder and I stopped unknowingly shivering. "Danzo-sama, how nice to see you not desk bound. Enjoying the night life?"

He gave a displeased hum, before masking it with a smile. "Yes, I thought it'd be a good idea to relax in the peace of the village before it's too late."

I bristled. The hand on my shoulder squeezed reassuringly. "Danzo-sama, please don't say something like that. It's way too early to be thinking of kicking the bucket. Konoha will look forward to many more years in your guidance."

I stilled. If it wasn't for the tense atmosphere and the immediate blast of dense chakra and the fact that this situation was nowhere near funny, I would've burst out laughing at Danzo's expression.

He gave a forced grimace, "Yes well, with Mitama-san back, I'm sure I won't be needed for much longer. I think it might be time to head back to my _desk_ now. And Nara-san, the alliance won't hold long, I believe you'll be acting accordingly." His eyes fixed onto me predatorily, "Have a good night, _Senju Kareha._ "

I bowed slightly to his retreating back. As soon as he was out of sight, I gave a sigh of relief.

"That bad, huh?"

I looked up to see Nara Shikaku staring off into the street. "Thanks for helping me out there, Shikaku-san. But why are you out here and not back at the compound?"

He scratched the back of his head, shifting his weight onto one leg. "The women are having a catch up and I thought it'd be best to leave them to it. Plus, I thought we could have our own little conversation. Mind if we head somewhere quieter?"

I nodded dumbly. Raised to not blindly follow people I had just met, I chalked this one up as an exception. I had broken the rule once already today, might as well do it again for the last time.

I should've guessed that by somewhere quieter he had meant the rooftop of some random's house that was at our convenience to hijack. His impassive nature had pointed to this development with a neon sign. I hoped that the house owner wouldn't mind our trespassing. It'd be uncomfortable to explain to them that we had borrowed their house just to engage in some minor chitchat.

He broke through my anxious musings. "You're very different from how I imagined you to be."

"Ouch?"

He stares at me for a while before turning away to rest his arms against the railing. He ignored my little attempt at lightening up the atmosphere. "I had an interesting talk with your mother before you came to Konoha. She wrote me a letter that introduced you."

I waited for him to continue.

"She's worried about you. Says you're very young to be caught up in clan matters and constantly thinking about survival. And that harbouring so much confliction and self-doubt was affecting you."

I stayed quiet for a moment, letting his accusations sink in. So it was this kind of a conversation? This was the first I was hearing about this. Kaa-chan had never voiced these concerns to me. "I don't quite follow."

"I will explain then. You secretly resent your lineage. The Senju name especially. Feelings you associate with upholding what's expected of you as clan heir. Reverence, fear and oftentimes bouts of abhorrence. You experience emotions very intensely and over a large spectrum. It's in that manner that you treat everything else in your life. You focus on all that's between white and black, but never one or the other and possibly against your will and consciousness too." The way his monotonous drawl contrasted against his ominous observations could almost be described as comical. "Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, time will tell."

I tried peering inconspicuously over his shoulder to see if he was actually reading off a fortune cookie. He was not. Hesitantly, I prompted, "I still don't quite understand where this is going."

"Hm, it's not supposed to go anywhere. You're taking the lead. You seem to like knowing all sides of the story. Let's just say I'm reading the first chapter of mine to you now. Treat it as an introductory gift."

I tapped a restless finger against my leg. Cryptic answers were not my cup of tea. He nursed the silence between us before turning to me with a sigh. "Your kaa-chan wants you to act more like a kid. You're making her feel incompetent when you act more like an adult than she does."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I resent that. How exactly is that my fault? If she wasn't such a child all the time, I wouldn't have to take over her role. And excuse my bluntness Shikaku-san, but you're a shrewd man and I find you a lot scarier than Danzo. But make no mistake, I also like you a lot more than him."

He goes quiet and stares at me with an unreadable expression, before the edge of his mouth lifts slightly into a smirk. "You're the kind of girl that'd happily give herself to her kidnapper you know that?"

I furrowed my brows, "That's the second time I've been accused of having Stockholm's in one day. Frankly, I feel attacked and misunderstood."

"Once may be a mistake, but twice? I think you should be slightly worried, we're probably right."

"Despite common belief, insulting your newfound goddaughter is not the correct way to bond with her."

He stuck his hand into my hair and gave it a ruffle. "Right, well I heard that messing up her hair usually will do the trick."

I flailed as he mussed my hair, "Where'd you hear that from, a baboon?!"

"Why how'd you know? It indeed was a baboon." Somewhere outside of Konoha, a man with long spiky white hair sneezed as he exited the hot springs.

"C'mon kid, let's head back to the women. I think your mother has a lot to say to you."

I let my head droop, "Of course she does." I followed him back to the compound dejectedly.

Before even entering the compound, kaa-chan appeared before me sporting a deadly smile. "Kareha, how nice to see you. How was being an irresponsible and rude host?"

Grimacing, I raised my hands up in surrender. "Sorry kaa-chan. Urgent matters."

She rolled her eyes, "So urgent that you needed to head to the Uchiha district?"

I immediately turned my accusing gaze to godfather. He shrugged in response, shoving his hands into his pockets. Other than his grating apathy, it seemed as though he was genuinely innocent of ratting me out. I freezed, before furiously patting my kimono down. A slip of paper caught onto my hand. "You placed a tracking seal on me."

Kaa-chan harrumphed righteously. "You were so preoccupied with _urgent matters_ that you didn't even notice it? As a chakra sensor and my daughter, you should be disappointed in yourself." She turned her sight skywards and started searching the sky melodramatically, "I should've known bringing you to Konoha was a bad idea. Not a month in and you've already forgotten yourself."

Crossing my arms, I sighed. "What do you want kaa-chan?"

"Insolence." She muttered under her breath. "I'm not going to press you for answers concerning your new Uchiha friend."

"He's not my friend." I inserted.

She peered down at me before ignoring my correction completely. "What did Shimura Danzo want?"

I blanched. That was something I had almost forgotten about. Just reliving the experience in my mind brought shivers to my body. Godfather cut in to my rescue, "Nothing much, just the usual jealous threats."

I noted the wary swirling of deep emerald in his chakra as he said this. It didn't dispute what I had already collected about this Danzo figure. He was not someone to trifle with. Though the issue of his fragmented chakra was still a point of concern. Frankly it was unnatural. I may not have much experience with chakra, but never in my life had I ever felt something so wrong. In the last encounter, I tried to puzzle out the mystery signature and slowly ebbed chakra around him under the pretence that I was unconsciously losing control out of fear; which wasn't far from the truth. A part of the chakra had resonated with my own, and the other had been fiercely rejecting it. I then realised I was way out of my depth. I would need to arm myself with a whole lot of books from a certain restricted section of the library and even then I wasn't confident in being able to uncover his secret.

Godmother scoffed, "That slimy bastard needs to kick the bucket already."

I suppressed a giggle. I could start to see why the two had settled on each other. "Don't worry, godfather said that to his face already." A sideways glance to Shikaku showed a smirk playing on his mouth. Yoshino-san shot the two of us calculative looks, clearly perplexed by our sudden level up in godfather-daughter relationship.

"Right, anyway" kaa-chan clapped her hands together, "Let's get back to dinner, I'll warm up the food again."

I felt guilty at that. "Sorry everyone, you shouldn't have waited for me."

"As long as you know, Kareha. Honestly though, out of all the boys you could've chased after, you try and seduce an Uchiha."

I groaned, slapping a hand to my face. "It's not like that! It was against my will!" I had unwittingly dug myself a deeper hole.

" _Oh?_ It was against your will to suddenly up and leave with a bento packed full of food?" She gave a derisive snort, "What are you, his wife?"

Godfather whistled unhelpfully, " _Busted,"_ But was awarded with a smack to the arm by his own wife. I huffed, served him right. So much for our newly conceived comradery.

"Whatever, anything that happened between our ancestors has been resolved and has nothing to do with the generations now. I don't see the problem with associating with them."

Kaa-chan rolled her sleeves up menacingly, "And that's why you're naïve, I'm dumping you into more training. You're going to need a _long_ bootcamp to beat that ignorance out of you."

I gulped.

* * *

A/N Whew, this chapter was awkward to write. So emo. But thanks for tuning in, next chap will be light and fluffy again. :D


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Yay for successful 'didn't see that one coming' with the godparents. I'm gifting this chap to you all a little early. Enjoy!

* * *

As promised, I was literally thrown to the dogs for the next few weeks. Mum had somehow cashed in on a favour from an Inuzuka and proceeded to chase me down with rabid dogs as punishment – sorry – training. During the month, my ever devoted uncle dropped by the forest a few times with food deliveries and to make sure I was still alive before being ultimately caught and then shooed off by kaa-chan.

At the very beginning of this torture, I had been instructed to just stay alive in the forest as I was hunted, but after realising her obstacles had been too lenient she threw in a bunch of chakra suppressants for good measure. I had been rendered practically blind without chakra and consequently been almost mauled to death by lurking creatures – Inuzuka dogs being the least of my worries. Now a month later, I crawled out of the forest, clothes and pride barely intact.

After this probationary period, I was finally allowed to return to the Senju compound. Kaa-chan hadn't been home to receive my sorry form when I got there. And so to keep my sanity, I hit the showers before taking a year-long nap. I woke up in the evening to the smell of dinner. I ambled through the house, disorientated and navigating through muscle memory alone. Pattering down the hallway, I began to pick up a bunch of voices conversing.

"You're a scary mother, Mitama. Honestly, who does that to their own child?"

"It's precisely because she's my child. It was how I was raised and look how I turned out."

Someone in the background snorted appraisingly. "Yeh, well I'm looking alright."

There was a thwack and an indignant 'ouch!' that followed shortly.

"Jiraiya-kun please control yourself. We're in the presence of a child." That distinct voice… belonged to none other than the Hokage himself.

Cover blown, I stepped out from behind the wall. "Hokage-sama." I bowed slightly.

He responded with a nod of his head and a beckoning hand. I heeded his gesture and sat next to him as he helped take off the suppressants.

"Why's the girl not emitting any chakra? Did her mother actually end up killing her or something?" The man with long white hair picked his nose as he said this. A radish whistled through the air, spearing him in the face.

"No you dumbass, it's obviously seals. And you call yourself a seal master." Another unrevealed member joined the fray. An imposing woman with dark green hair and a pair of piercing cat eyes. Her demeanour and chakra flaunted confidence and deadly power.

Kaa-chan intervened by serving up a large plate of food onto the table. "Children, no need to be so rowdy. It's not the first time Jiraiya-senpai has proven his idiocy."

"Aww, Mitama-chan. Don't be like that. You can't surely mean it. Where was all the respect you used to have for Sakumo and I?"

At this convenient moment, Uncle and Kakashi stepped into the house. "Don't lump me into the same category as you, my friend. I at least still manage to command some respect."

I bounded up at Kakashi's appearance. "Uncle! Kakashi-nii! You're here!"

He gave me a small nod of acknowledgement that brought a smile to my lips.

"Right settle down and take a seat everyone." Kaa-chan said as she plated up the last of the dishes.

Kaa-chan shot me a sharp look as everyone began eating. "Have you learnt your lesson, Kareha?"

I shovelled in food at a ravenous speed, not noticing how hungry I had been. I nodded, almost choking on my food before swallowing to answer. "Yup, the higher the hiding spot the safer you are."

She closed her eyes, visibly irritated. "You're lucky we have guests. We'll talk about this later." She gestured to the rude and boisterous man, "That's Jiraiya of the Sannin. You'll realise soon enough he doesn't really live up to the name." Jiraiya responded with an affronted noise but was too preoccupied with eating to really voice his discontent. "And the lady to his right is a close friend of mine, Konoha's Jounin Commander, Harue Rie."

I paused from my eating to look up in shock. Again with the unlikely appearances of prestigious individuals in our household. I dipped my head in respect, "It's an honour to meet you, I'm Senju Kareha."

There was an almost unnoticeable sheen to her eyes as I shuffled uncomfortably, trying not to waver as I met her scrutinising gaze. She finally let up with an approving nod of her own and resumed eating. What a bizarre woman. I couldn't deduce her emotions in the slightest, not even with a healthy prodding of supersensory chakra.

"Hey! Where was the honour in meeting the great and gallant Jiraiya-sama?!"

Nobody heeded the man. And being attention deprived, he returned to his meal sulkily. I decided to start up a conversation with Kakashi. "How have the missions been, Kakashi-nii?"

"Fine."

I wilted slightly at his lack of response.

"It's… been uneventful." He reiterated just to amuse me.

I beamed. Score. "I'll bet. Had any chances to use the shape manipulation technique?"

"It hasn't been perfected yet, I don't have permission to use it on missions and I haven't encountered any that have required it."

Uncle who was sitting beside Kakashi could barely conceal his pride. He was giving the sun a run for its money with how much he was beaming.

"Hm, what are the chances of you teaching me how to do it?"

Kaa-chan immediately intervened. "Don't you even think about it Kareha. Kakashi-kun is very busy and you haven't even mastered the first step in water manipulation."

I pouted. "Announce it to the world, why don't you?" I huffed under my breath.

Sakumo leaned across the table to ruffle my hair. "Your mum's just messing with you. Your water manipulation is fine. She just has high expectations, as do I. So make sure you master it completely before asking to learn shape manipulation."

I conceded with a hollow nod. Not long afterwards, I started up again. This time on the flaky jounin I saw with him last time. "So how are you finding your jounin sensei?"

"Minato-sensei? He's a good teacher."

I crinkled my nose slightly. "He seems… very nice. Too nice." The kind of nice that screamed pansy pushover and 'please take advantage of me'.

"Is this my star pupil we're going on about?" Jiraiya butts in.

I blinked. "This pervert was your teacher's teacher?" I pointed at the sannin. How he managed to produce an innocent flower like Minato was beyond me.

The adults stifled their laughter, sans Jiraiya who was clearly not amused. "I'll have you know, I'm not just any pervert, Kareha-chan. I'm a super perve-" And with a bowl of rice to the face, the great sannin was silenced. "Rie-chan, sho hartwesshh." He muffled into the food.

Rie snorted. "You shouldn't be so surprised Kareha-chan. I'll tell you something even more shocking. This pervert's teacher. Is also a pervert."

I slowly turned to face the Hokage who started coughing suspiciously. "Hokage-sama… no!" I shouted in denial. He avoided my eyes expertly. I shook my head in disbelief. This was blowing way out of proportions and I was learning things that put the 'ignorance is bliss' philosophy to shame.

"It's a good lesson to learn. All men are pigs." Kaa-chan said sagely, placing a piece of meat into my bowl.

I then turned to uncle, "Even you, Uncle?"

Kaa-chan put her hand on my shoulder. "Even Uncle Sakumo." She murmured solemnly.

"Mitama-chan! Not in front of Kakashi."

"It's fine. I've come to terms with what kind of person tou-san is."

Rie smacked Kakashi's back exuberantly, "That's the spirit." Kakashi lurched forward from the impact, choking into his bowl. She adopted a thoughtful expression, "Although this Minato, we're talking about the Namikaze right?" Noises of assent echoed throughout the room. "That kid's the real deal alright. Shot up the ranks at crazy speeds, really lives up to the hiraishin."

I paused, chopsticks hovering mid-air. "Did you say the hiraishin?"

Jiraiya gave a jubilant laugh. "That's right kiddo, Minato's got a real knack for fuinjutsu. Cracked open the hiraishin like a coconut. A genius among genius. Of course, that's only to be expected as a student of mine."

Rie groaned.

"What's that, Rie-chan? Is that jealousy I smell? I've heard rumours you were trying to scout him when he first exited the academy. Landed right into my hands instead. Must've been hard on you." He cooed.

"Oh shut up you lumbering, impudent fool, he would've done much better in anbu."

That peaked my curiosity. "Anbu?" I questioned.

"Hm. Ansatsu butai, I used to be a squad leader before taking on jounin commander."

My mouth made an 'o' shape as my eyes sparkled in awe. "But you said that Kakashi's sensei can perform the hiraishin?"

"That's correct, kid. You interested?"

"Interested? It's my rite of passage. That thing's practically a family heirloom."

"Now that you mention it, you do look an awful lot like the Nidaime."

"Right?!" kaa-chan chose this opportune time to voice her pride. I massaged the bridge of my nose, between uncle and kaa-chan, I didn't know who was worse.

Before kaa-chan went on tangent and launched into my birth story, I hurriedly asked, "How did he do it?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Not sure exactly how. But it did take him a good decade to figure it out. If you want to know more about it, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to answer a few questions."

I huffed, turning my head to the side. "Like I'd need answers, I can figure it out myself. I'm just surprised someone like him was able to successfully perform it."

Kakashi interrupted with a frown, "Sensei's strong."

"Don't worry about her Kakashi-kun, she gets very defensive over her lineage. Besting her in her own technique is like dowsing a cat in cold water." I ignored this and continued to fume to myself.

"Although I'd like to know if there were any fuinjutsu experts that could guide Kareha in the art? I'd volunteer myself, but she's approaching the level where I'm not confident I could help."

"Other than Minato and I, there's not many others. The kid doesn't want to learn from Minato, lest he triggers her inferiority complex-" I growled. "-And she can't learn from me since I'm always out of the village."

The Hokage who had been quiet for a while, spoke up, "Why not try Kushina-chan?"

"That's true, no one beats an Uzumaki at their own game." Rie intoned.

I lit up at the mention of an Uzumaki. "Do you think she'll be willing to teach me?"

Hokage-sama laughed at my excitement, "I'm sure she won't deny someone so similar to herself."

That sealed the deal. Of course sussing out the higher ups would result in a legitimate candidate for teaching fuinjutsu. Why hadn't I just asked the Hokage earlier?

Early next morning, I ran off in search for this Uzumaki Kushina. She was apparently not a particularly elusive character, with the flaming red hair and exuberant personality typical of an Uzumaki.

A familiar chakra signature settled beside me in a comfortable stroll. "Were you that embarrassed last time that you had to avoid me for a whole month?"

I didn't bother to acknowledge the annoyance that had suddenly appeared. I could sense a smile forming on his face. My lips curled in displeasure. We continued this way until my patience fizzled out completely. "What do you want Uchiha?"

"Just a response. How have you been?"

I shot him a sidewards glance and sensed the sincerity in his chakra. Sighing, I threw him a bone, "I wasn't actively avoiding you. Lots of things have happened and I was basically held prisoner in a forest."

He faltered. I looked back to stare at him and surprisingly he began laughing. "Have you been told how adorable you are when you say things like that?" he continued chuckling, "It's like nothing you say matches your features." He gestured to my short stature and baby face.

Dark clouds brew above me as I seethed at his patronising. "You only have two years and 15 centimetres on me. Don't. Push. It."

"Awww is that so?" he cooed, ruffling my hair a bit before dashing out of my grasp and sprinting even faster to avoid my wrath.

I took deep breaths muttering words of encouragement to myself, "A Senju heir must not act out, not in public. I must act appropriately. Uchihas are not worth my time."

The Uchiha had the audacity to slow down his jog to shoot me a wink. Clenching my fists I cried in rage, "Come back here, you little sprite. I'm going to show you not to mess with someone out of your league."

"Come on, Senju-chan. You're a hundred years too early to challenge me!" he threw back, chuckling lowly.

I sped up, giving into the chase. We took onto the rooftops, leaving confused villagers and exasperated shinobi in our wake. I let a cruel smirk slip onto my face. Pulling my sleeves up, I took off the massive scroll from my back and started unsealing random objects. "You underestimate me Uchiha. And for that, you'll pay the ultimate price." Chakra enhancing my throw, I started launching random objects at him in quick succession giving him little time to dodge. Laughing manically I cried, "Karma does not discriminate Uchiha, come here and receive your retribution!"

"Ok, you're also a little crazy but nothing I can't handle. You're still adorable, Kareha-chan!" he screamed back.

I growled. "You're so dead once I'm through with you!" I gave a triumphant shout when a doorknob I lobbed grazed him on the shoulder. He suddenly jumped down onto the second floor of a building and stopped abruptly.

I juggled cabbages in my hands whilst sporting a deranged grin. "Oh Uchiha-kun!" I sang. "Ha! You've finally accepted your fate I see. It was only a matter of tim-" I turned as the door beside me opened suddenly, revealing a woman with the longest flaming red hair I had ever seen. I gaped at the woman as I awkwardly grasped cabbages in my hand. She stared questioningly from me, and then to Shisui who had the gall to shrug innocently at her. He then whispered to me from behind his hand, "That's Uzumaki Kushina by the way."

I immediately poofed away the cabbages and dropped into a low bow. "I'm so sorry for acting inappropriately in front of your property." I turned to glower at the Uchiha who responded with a little wave. "Why'd you lead me here, you prick?" I hissed.

He pretended to lower his voice as if we were talking in secret. "Your mother asked me to help you out. Said that you'd appreciate it a lot."

The gears churned in my head. "When the hell did you talk to my mother?"

"I was returning the bento box you lent me last time."

A cough interrupted our little clearing up of the situation. "What's going on Shisui?"

Shisui pulled me into his side unceremoniously. I suppressed a groan as the side of my face made sharp contact with his shoulder. "Kushina-san, this is my friend, Senju Kareha. She wants to learn fuinjutsu from you."

I pushed down a deep growl that threatened to escape. How dare he tr- "Kushina? Who is it?"

Just what I needed, more company. A deep fear settled to my stomach as I noticed the familiar chakra and the unmistakable girly voice of, "Flaky-san?"

Minato walked up behind Kushina and looked down at me. He blushed and again, his hand went straight to the back of his head. "It's been a long time since I've heard that nickname." I stilled at his appearance. Why is it that he's always there to interrupt everything?! First Kakashi and now Kushina. Does he know everyone in this god damn village? I then realised just exactly what I had accidentally uttered and clammed my mouth shut with my hands. I had let my guard down, getting all riled up by the Uchiha and as a result my tongue slipped and my discretion fell flat.

"Sorry…" I offered pathetically as my mind starting thinking of places to dig a hole and hide forever.

Kushina looks to me and then to Minato before bursting into laughter. Suddenly I found myself being swung around in the arms of Uzumaki Kushina. Her bubbling laughter was contagious and soon I found myself sporting a small grin. She squealed slightly and pressed me to her chest. "You are adorable Senju Kareha." I was reminded of little girls when they were presented a new doll to add to their collection.

I heard Shisui give an appreciative chuckle behind and reminded myself to deck him after I got released from Kushina's grasp. She peeled me back to take a good look at my face before pressing me back into herself and snuggling the life out of me. What…voluptuous assets. "My first student! How exciting! And she agrees with me about Minato's flakiness too. It's fate. _Dattebane!_ "

"Maa, Kushina, I think she's going to pass out at this rate." Minato slowly eased me out of her grip and plopped me back onto solid ground. I gave a sigh at the feeling of sweet release and at the hard ground beneath my feet. I muttered a small 'thanks'.

Kushina laughed bashfully and mumbled an apology before brightening up just as quickly. This woman, her emotions flickered back and forth like changing television channels, it was impressive but also frightening. "Well Kareha-chan, you're my student now - oh my gosh this is so exciting _dattebane_ – so you can call me Kushina-shishou."

"Hai Kushina-shishou!" I threw in a salute for good measure.

She melted into goo at this and started making cooing noises. I refrained myself from shuddering. "Kushina…" Minato warned.

She coughed and straightened back up. "Anyway, come in Shisui, Kareha-chan. Do you guys want anything to eat?" Her head disappeared in the fridge before we could answer, the sound of clanging bottles and rustling of groceries resounded throughout the apartment.

"Actually, Mitama-sama wanted to invite the two of you over for dinner at the Senju compound. She kind of foresaw you'd agree to take Kareha as your student. " The Uchiha inserted before I could say anything.

Her head stuck back out curiously, rolling the thought around her head for a moment before she imitated a seal and clapped her hands together eagerly. "That's great! Let's go then. I'll help cook!"

I twitched involuntarily, leaning back from her enthusiasm. "Uh, shishou, I don't think that'll be necessary. We wouldn't want a guest to overwork themselves on our invite."

She waved her hands, "Nonsense. Up, up. Let's go!" she herded us out the door and soon I found myself being shoved back into my own home. Moments later, Shisui had hightailed back home saying something about an impromptu mission. And by then Kushina had already introduced herself to kaa-chan and the two found themselves casually conversing about life as if the two were old friends. I blinked as my mind started to catch up with the scenario that had just unfolded. I peered into the kitchen to see a picture perfect scene full of heart-warming laughter and peaceful chatter.

And then there was Minato and I. Frigid silence hung about us like corpses from trees. Heck I was soon going to join one of those corpses if I had to submit myself to one more minute of this awkwardness. In the corner of my eye, I watched him shift restlessly, lips pressed together in a thin line. His eyes drifted to the ceiling, glancing interestedly at the blank walls that surrounded us. I then noticed the determination settle in his eyes as he cleared his throat. Oh no. "So, uh, Kareha-chan. Do you mind me calling you that?"

I shook my head, balling my fists in my lap. Gods, why me? Why?!

"Well. What got you into learning fuinjustsu?"

I bristled. This man. The nerve of him to ask the descendant of Senju Tobirama why she wanted to continue his legacy? What managed tumbled out of my mouth however, contrasted drastically. "I-I wanted to…I like…spacetimeninjutsu." I mentally face palmed, what was I? Five? I inwardly cried. Kami-sama save me, I was five.

He seemed taken aback and for a moment I thought that I could not, no would not stop myself from launching at his surprised face and clawing his flaky eyes out. He then smiled gently and patted my head softly. "An admirable branch of shinobi arts."

Blood rushed to my cheeks as I tried to squash down the fluffy warmth that had curled and taken root at my stomach. Damn his good looks, I will not be swayed so easily. I peeked at him from under my bangs. "I'm trying to figure out the hiraishin but it's not exactly working in my favour."

His surprise came and went faster this time. He poked at my cheek. "Kushina was right. Stop pouting, you're too adorable for your own good."

I ignored him, powering on, if I didn't get it out now, I would never be able to bring myself to ask again. Besides, if he doesn't relent then he's the bad person and I'll just be the victim who happens to be an _adorable_ non-threatening five year old. "I have some questions that I'd like to ask." I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to focus on the nails biting into my skin rather than the bad taste lingering in my mouth.

"Ok." Came his easy answer. I stared up at him.

" _Sure."_ Shisui had said it the same way. And in my mind in under a second, I had automatically filed and identified all the similarities between their smiles, their tone of voice, even the exact angle they tilted their heads in. I dropped a fist into the palm of my other hand, they've got to be related.

My mind then faltered and sputtered, running out of juice as I comprehended the weight of his answer. He had said ok. He said yes. He was going to teach me. I was so happy I could jump out of my seat and attack the man with kisses, but that would be indecorous of a Senju heir. I was so preoccupied that I hadn't even realised as a single tear spilled onto my cheek.

Minato looked like a deer caught in headlights, hands held forward placating but keeping its distance in case it would cause me to cry even more. "No don't cry, I'm sorry. Kareha-cha-"

A deadly voice sounded from in front of us. The room temperature dropped a few degrees. "Minato…what did you do to my Kareha-chan - _dattebane_?"

He scrambled backwards in a hurry, "Kushina! I don't know? I said I'd help her with the hiraishin but then she started crying. And I don't know what I've done wrong. Do you think she's hurt? I could hiraishin to the nearest shop and get her some medicine-"

I sobered up, watching the scene unfold before me with apprehension. What the hell was going on? "Shishou..." She turned her fearsome glare at me, red locks exploding behind her like an angry mane. Her expression softened. "Don't worry honey, I'll deal with this. The fool is not very good with women."

She proceeded forwards menacingly, cracking her fists as she went. "Shishou!" I tried a bit louder. "It's not his fault." I wiped at my cheek angrily, "I don't even know why this is happening right now." "I just… I think I was just disappointed in myself for needing help and being so prideful about it." I turned to face Minato and apologised.

His hand rested on my shoulder. "Kareha-chan, asking for help isn't a sign of weakness. I wouldn't have got to where I am if I didn't ask for some help here and there. You're Kushina's student now, which means you're part of the family. And family help each other out, right?"

F-family? This was escalating too quickly. Konoha people wore their hearts too close to their sleeves. I shook my head in exasperation, "How can you be so trusting? What if I'm actually the devil in disguise?" I blurted out.

Kaa-chan appeared out of nowhere to ruffle my hair. "Oh darling, I think they already know that. You're not disguised very well."

I seethed. "Alright, I get it kaa-chan. I'm a horrible person. End of discussion." I bared my teeth and gave a half-hearted 'raaaah!' before announcing, "I'm taking Minato." I dragged him out the room and he surprisingly did not object to being manhandled.

We entered into my study, with me throwing my hands out at the sea of sealing notes triumphantly. "This is where the creations come to life."

He bent to the floor, sifting through pages of sealing arrangements and random advice I had written to myself for my sealing progress. "You…did all this yourself?"

I shifted uncomfortably, nodding. "Yeh, it's not that impressive yet, but I'm getting there." I bounded to a notebook that contained my hiraishin notes and handed it to him, albeit a bit self-consciously. "Here. This is all I've got as of now. There's three other journals but I've refined it down to this one. It's the most precious thing I own."

He slipped it into his hands, an unreadable expression on his face. I watched him flit through the first few pages, pausing at diagrams here and there. Ten minutes had passed and yet he still sat there, fully immersed into my immature research. I rubbed at my arm bashfully. "Is it ok?" I asked.

He looked up suddenly, his eyes flashed wildly before settling back into clear blue, as if he had just remembered I existed. "Ok? Kareha-chan, this is incredible. You did this all by yourself?"

I nodded, fidgeting slightly.

"You only need to flush out the last three rings of the second layer and tweak it into your own seal. The way you're going, are you sure you even need my help?" he shook his head in disbelief.

I shuffled my feet uneasily, "I can't seem to fit the first and second rings into the intersecting joint. I've tried applying different structures but the second layer keeps rejecting it."

He hummed thoughtfully. "I see. Did you try forcing chakra into the site to interfere with the disjunction?"

"I did, it just jams the whole seal." I dropped my head in defeat. "It's fine. I'll just have to keep researching."

"Start over."

My eyes snapped to him in incredulity. "What?"

He grabbed a brush and started sketching out a seal in quick sure strokes. "Start over. It's the only way. You've obviously hit a plateau. If you can't work around a rock, just find another rock that you can work around." He continued to draw out a design, swiftly applying brush to paper. "You're trying to manipulate too much at once. Try sectioning the layers out before condensing. We're talking about space warping. Multiple factors are at play. First, chakra fusion and conversion. Second, manipulation of a specific point in space. Third, manipulation of time-dimension. Fourth, acceptance of the body in relation to the aforementioned factors. This roughly translates to at least six layers." He stopped writing. "This is going to bring you back up to where you were at with your previous seal. I've loosely reinterpreted your design into something closer to the original. You're focusing too much on the space warping aspect and not enough in the flow of time." He handed me the diagram.

I took it with shaky hands. This man was a freaking genius. I bowled him over with an excited shriek. "You're goddamn amazing you know!"

His arms came around me slowly, "Not really. I just used everything you gave me."

I shook my head, nestling my chin into his shoulder. "You barely looked at anything and yet you managed to identify all my mistakes. You're a certified genius!"

He chuckled, standing up with me still hanging off his body like a koala. "Thank you for your high regards but I think it's time for dinner."

I blinked, feeling several chakra signatures tingling at the door. "Oh, your sensei is here."

He walked us out to the dining room, "You're a chakra sensor?"

I beamed proudly. "Senju Tobirama's great granddaughter remember?"

He returned a boyish grin. "Did I mention how incredible you were?"

"Kareha! Everywhere I find you, you're always flirting with older men! Why did you have to inherit kaa-chan's charm?"

I realised my legs were still hugging Minato around the middle with my arms tied around his neck. I sheepishly slid down from his body.

"Minato! Kid! How's it going? You two been nerding it out already?"

I huffed, turning away from the blundering fool as Minato gave a sheepish shrug. I leaned pass Jiraiya to try to identify the other visitors. They were all foreign chakra signatures.

The woman was first to speak, "Hi there Kareha-chan. I've heard many great things about you. It's so nice to finally meet you."

I bowed unsurely, "Likewise, but who are you may I ask?"

She smacks her head lightly, "Oh, silly me. I'm Ishika Aiwa, the headmistress of the academy."

I narrowed my eyes at kaa-chan. From her suspiciously innocent poker face, I could tell she had intentionally left me out of the loop. Aiwa then motioned to the two men behind her, "This is Yahiro-sensei and Hotoshi-sensei. They'll be overseeing your entrance exam and responsible for teaching you, hopefully."

I bowed, "I look forward to learning under you."

"As will I, Aiwa-chan!" the lecherous sannin inserted, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. He was immediately shut down with a chakra enhanced smack down and now occupied the floor, nursing his head tenderly. The women in this village really had zero tolerance for the guy. It made me almost want to sympathise with him. Almost.

"Jiraiya-senpai, I thought you were leaving the village? Is there a reason for visiting uninvited?" Kaa-chan's tone was deceptively polite, but the scathing undertones were not lost on anyone.

Jiraiya chuckled nervously, "Ah yes, well I heard from Aiwa-chan that she would be coming here and I wanted to see the kid again to give her something before I left." He dug into his clothes and pulled out a small bright purple book that read Icha Icha Lunch Break and had a provocative teacher sprawled over a desk on the front cover. The temperature in the room dropped several degrees.

Minato started coughing loudly, "Sensei, wrong book."

Jiraiya looked down and laughed, "Ah my mistake," he pulled out another small book that was title-less but had the large Uzumaki symbol splashed across the front. "This is the one. I've found it on one of my recent travels somewhere off Kiri. It's got some nifty tricks on combat ready seals. I think you'll find it more useful than me." he said, handing it over.

My eyes glistened as I held the small book to my chest. "Thank you. For a pervert, you're actually pretty decent."

He barked out a loud laugh, "It's a super pervert to you kid. Do try to remember that whilst I'm gone." Suddenly, a small toad poofed into existence on his shoulder. There was a short exchange of words that I couldn't hear before a dark look crossed over his face. "It seems I may have spoken too soon. I'll be out of the village for a while, tell sensei I'll keep him updated through the toads. Farewell ladies." With a two fingered wave, he disappeared along with the messenger toad.

Jiraiya had left a tense atmosphere in his wake. Kaa-chan tried to dissolve the strained mood by hustling everyone to the dinner table.

I stared at my food with a billion thoughts running through my mind. Something urgent must've come up for the sannin to dart off like that. He seemed so uncharacteristically serious and that brought worry to the forefront of everyone's consciousness.

I was not oblivious to the parent teacher dinner that kaa-chan had cleverly organised. Of course I would not be exempt from attending the academy. Having every day free from strict educational confines was too good to be true.

"Kareha-chan, you'll be starting at the academy next week. If you could come in tomorrow for a placement test to see which class to sort you into. If you have any questions between tomorrow and your first week, feel free to ask me or any of the other senseis."

I nodded my head absentmindedly. Everything had been decided anyway, there was no point in arguing.

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A/N Unfortunately exams are here and I'm not sure how often the uploads will come. I promise I'll be back in no more than a week. I really appreciate the reviews and love hearing everyone's thoughts. Your enthusiasm and theories fuel me. :3


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Sorry guys, a little late for this one. I accidentally spilt water on my trackpad and my laptop went spastic. But we're here now so it's all good. Enjoy! :)

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Rolling to the side, I sharply avoided a kunai that fortunately found a different target, spearing into the floor. Flipping up to my feet, I leaned away from ball of flame that almost managed to singe my hair off. My chest was heaving with harsh pants. With a huff, I blew away the bangs that hung over my eyes.

A haircut would definitely be in order.

Drawing multiple kunai between my fingers, I flung them out towards my opponent. He seemed amused by this, lazily fending them off with fast movements of his short sword.

The fatigue was quickly catching me out. "Why are you stuck here teaching children? I'm surprised the Hokage let a former anbu waste away his talents."

He followed my line of sight and eyed the slit in his shoulder that exposed his anbu tattoo. He smiled lightly. "I have no such talents." He offered, before launching at me again.

I darted away from his quick jabs, returning vaguely accurate strikes to his pressure points. I managed to slip past an attack, pinning him in a chakra point on his right arm. Lucky score. It immediately fell limp on his side. Grinning victoriously I missed the build-up of chakra – the tell-tale sign major ass beating – and as a result got blasted off painfully onto my backside, getting the breath knocked out of me. I rolled to my side, taking in gulps of air and breathing out agonisingly. Yahiro offered his hand out to me and I accepted reluctantly.

"You didn't tell me you were a Hyuuga, sensei."

He laughed. "That's because I'm not. Although I'm surprised you were able to pinpoint chakra points."

"Enhanced sensory perception. It comes with being the great granddaughter of the nidaime. Although it's still in its preliminary stages." I eyed him suspiciously, "How were you able to expel chakra from the tenketsu at your abdomen?"

He gave a closed eyed smile, "It's a secret."

There was an awkward moment of silence before I relented. "Right." His chakra fluctuations suggested that I shouldn't pursue the subject. "So how'd I do?"

Humming in thought he said, "I wonder. How do you think you performed?"

I shrugged. "Subpar. I've never fought anyone other than kaa-chan and this was one of the battles I'm not so proud of. To be honest, I was caught quite off guard with that last blast there."

"Yes, your concentration slipped at the end and I was able to monopolise on your unfounded confidence." His eyes crinkled mockingly. How irritating. "But, you're fairly good for a child. I'll look forward to teaching you a lot."

A child? I held back an annoyed click of the tongue, bowing nonetheless. "Thank you for the fight."

"Meet me next week in class 13C, I'll see you bright and early." He gave me a slightly sinister smile before poofing off.

I sighed, rolling my shoulder back trying to rid the tenseness. How bothersome. That man was a real piece of work. I noticed how quiet the forest suddenly became as my heartbeat died down. It had been a long time since I've rested away from loud chakra. Settling into a nice tree, I slowly eased off into a nap.

A sudden flicker of chakra just on the outskirts of my sensory perception triggered my awakening. I groaned, how rude. Rubbing my eyes, I heightened my senses to probe the newly arrived guests. It seemed to be two men, one of them was considerably stronger than the other and it had a familiar sharp edge to it. I gathered it was most likely someone who favoured wind as their main affinity. That wasn't supposed to be common in Konoha. Giving in to curiosity, I suppressed my chakra and slinked off towards the intruders.

"Where's the thing I asked for?" drawled a man's voice. The wind user.

"H-here, master."

There was a moment of silence before the first voice spoke again. "Haichi, you've been fooled. This isn't even close to the real one." There was a distinct threat to his voice and the displeasure rolled off his chakra in waves.

"W-what? That can't b-be right. The woman… she was protecting it with her life…I-I took it from her dead body." responded the voice that was now identified as 'Haichi'.

I flattened myself against the tree, holding in my breath. My mind was whirling at this admission. What the hell was going on?

"Impudent cretin. You've disappointed me. Go now. Return this to the body." There was a sound of something hitting the floor. "We'll settle this later." The chakra disappeared and shortly after, 'Haichi' followed.

I released the breath that I'd been holding. Was this normal? Surely I wasn't that much of a forest bumpkin that the customs of ninja villages had escaped me so. Yes, it was normal for shinobi to slaughter one another, but from the secrecy and overall bad vibes, I concluded it was more than just a simple assassination and retrieval. I allowed some time to pass before sauntering out the forest. There had to be somebody to tell.

As I walked down the somewhat familiar streets I caught a whiff of something that made my stomach grumble. Rolling my eyes, I followed the scent and arrived at a ramen stand. The owner greeted me with a welcoming smile. "What are you after today, little lady?"

I glanced at the menu, lost. "Anything you suggest."

"Right then, a beef miso coming on up!"

A few moments later, a steaming bowl of noodles was glistening in all its glory in front of me. I cracked open a pair of chopsticks and dug right in, slurping up the yummy goodness and sighed contently.

The owner laughed good naturedly at me. "You're a new face. Recently arrived in Konoha?"

I nodded into my meal. "It's been two months."

"Hm, must be a quite a change for you, huh? What brought you here?"

"Kaa-chan decided it'd be a good change of pace and also something about getting in touch with my roots. I was born here after all." Of course that was completely made up. If there hadn't been news of a looming war, there was a high chance that kaa-chan would've kept me out of Konoha my whole life. Obviously telling a civilian that we moved due to large scale skirmishes on our border wasn't a smart idea.

He let out another laugh. "You do look like you belong here. You'll fit right in, no doubt about it." He acknowledged my banged up state and the kunai lying beside me, "Joining the academy soon?"

I swallowed the food in my mouth and nodded. "Next week. Any tips?"

He scratched his chin, "Make a lot of friends and try your best. As someone who only attended for a year, that's really all I can say."

Vague but solid advice I concluded. "Growing up outside Konoha, I haven't really been in contact with kids my age. We'll see how well I can follow your advice. I'll have to give you weekly updates." I slurped some more noodles before continuing. "And that's definitely not an excuse to enjoy your heavenly beef miso." I grinned cheekily.

Chucking out a boisterous laugh he nodded appreciatively, "You have a good mouth on you, reminds me of my daughter Ayame. What's your name, kid?"

"Kareha at your service." I gave him a quick salute.

He beamed. "The name's Teuchi. I'll love to see you around more, and bring your kaa-chan around next time."

"Roger that." I resumed eating.

"Teuchi! The usual!" I recognised the chakra that settled beside me. I looked up to see Harue Rie, the current Jounin Commander.

I blinked. "Harue-sama."

She didn't seem to notice me until I mentioned her name. Looking down, she gave me a wink before rapidly vacuuming up the noodles placed in front of her. After finishing her meal in record time she gave her stomach a pat before brushing away the stand divider and exiting the stall. I stared for a while at her sudden appearance and disappearance. Her presence was still just as demanding and insane as the first time I met her. And then I remembered, the murder. I quickly asked Teuchi for the bill.

"Don't worry about it kid, it's already been paid for." He nodded at the money left by Rie. I thanked him before rushing out. I searched the crowd for the dark green hair and caught sight of it just before she turned the corner. Squeezing through the sea of people I sped after her.

"Harue-sama! Please, wait up!"

She stopped, thankfully and turned her curious cat-like eyes on me. "Kid, no need to come after me for a simple meal."

"No, there's something I have to tell you."

She gestured for me to go ahead.

I juggled around some words in my mind, hesitating on how I should word this before finally settling on, "Have there been any deaths recently? Of a woman in particular?"

She glanced at me with an unidentifiable look. "Kid, people die all the time. That's not a specific enough description to pinpoint anyone with."

I faltered. That was true, but there wasn't anything else I had gleaned from the conversation. Unless- "She's guarding something important. Or at least she's got hold of something valuable."

She scrutinised me, "Where are you getting this information from, Kareha?"

I hesitated. "I overheard two people talking. A man and his… servant of sorts, someone called Haichi. I think the servant, Haichi accidentally stole the replica of the item from a dead kunoichi."

"Hm, even if what you're saying is true, I still can't help you out. There hasn't been any kunoichi deaths in the past few days."

"Commander!" A flailing man came running at us, a moustache of sweat hanging on his upper lip and his chunin uniform in a dishevelled mess.

"Furu! What did I say about making a scene? Calm down and speak properly."

"Yes commander! Sorry commander! It's Kimiko, her body's been brought back from the outskirts of the fire nation."

Harue's expression immediately hardened. "Take me to her." She looked down at me, "This doesn't concern you Kareha, return home now and don't tell anyone about what you've just told me."

I must've nodded somewhat unconvincingly as she responded with a harsh, "I'm serious." before leaving with the other shinobi.

I followed her instructions and headed home with a sigh. How much drama can a child be subjected to in one day? If there's one thing for sure, Konoha's never a bore. Pulling the book Jiraiya gifted me I started reading on seals, until a particular combat arrangement caught my eye. It was a design that spread a radius of one kilometre, acting as a barrier of some sort to trap multiple enemies within.

The inside of the barrier could be manipulated with different chakra natures to potentially incinerate the people within. The massacring aspect didn't particularly appeal to me, but I could totally spin this to work in my favour with the hiraishin. If I could spread this seal out across an expanse of space that wasn't limited to just the ground, I could possibly teleport myself wherever I wanted, within the confines of the seal. I heard from Minato, that his seals were attached to specialised three pronged kunais, but I quickly deduced that the opponent could easily predict his trajectory that way. If I perfected _this_ version of the hiraishin, there wouldn't be any drawbacks. With the addition of my chakra perception, I only needed to train up on a faster reaction speed to keep up with the seal. I'd literally be untouchable. I stifled my mad cackling as kaa-chan entered the compound. Slipping the book back into my storage seal, I went to help with the cooking.

"How was the fight with Yahiro?"

I glowered, slicing into the tomato with unnecessary force, "It was fine."

She laughed, "Yahiro put you into place didn't he?"

I grounded my teeth together. "Aren't you supposed to taking my side? And why do you sound like you know him so well?"

She paused her light humming and turned her attention on me. "Did he not tell you?" At the confused shake of my head she let out tinkling laughter. "Him and his secrecy. He never did grow out of it." A forlorn expression crossed her face. "When I was a jounin sensei, he was part of my team. He was my favourite, too. But don't tell him I said that."

"Yahiro-sensei was?"

"Hm, it's kind of cool isn't it? I passed on my teaching to him and now he's going to be teaching you."

I shrugged disinterestedly, "I guess."

Eventually, kaa-chan got sick of my clumsy dissecting of vegetables and very nicely told me to just unhand the tool and back away from the kitchen. I struggled to keep my composure when she called me out on the jagged edges that she vehemently stated could not have possibly been achieved with a knife. I found it hard to believe that wielding kunai was any different from a kitchen knife. In the last few embarrassing minutes, I have learnt that that was not the case. I relinquished my position as a filial daughter and kitchen aid reluctantly. There would be other things I could hopefully show off in. Maybe cooking was just not going to be one of them.

"You're better off going to the Hatake's and rounding your uncle and Kakashi up. They might've forgotten about dinner."

I gave a quick nod before heading to the door to pull on my sandals. Just as I was about to head out, two almost identical chakras stepped into my radius of sensory perception. "They haven't forgotten!" I called to kaa-chan.

"How far away are they?" she shouted back.

"At their snail's pace, probably 10 minutes!"

"Ok, come set up the table before they arrive."

I grumbled, ripping off the shoes I had just put on. I pattered back into the kitchen and started drawing out plates and cutlery from the cupboards. "How did you manage to get Kakashi-nii to come?"

"How did _your uncle_ get him to come?" She corrected with a mischievous lilt in her tone.

A Cheshire grin adorned my features. "Oh my, kaa-chan you need to start your own line of business. Something along the lines of, 'A guide to single fatherhood' or 'A How To: communicating with your apathetic teen son'."

She snorted in the most ladylike way possible. "I can't sell off my skills to everyone. Besides, superior parenting is not something that can be taught. You either have it or you don't." with a snide upturn of the chin, she plated up the broiled fish.

I gaped at her shameless self-marketing. How obnoxious.

"Yeh well news flash honey, the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree."

So engrossed into her sudden onslaught of arrogance, I hadn't even realised I had said that aloud. I made an indignant noise. "No no, that's where you're wrong kaa-chan. The apple's fallen far far from the tree and has rolled to the other side of the world by now."

"Ah, whatever helps you get to sleep at night, boo. Oh and whilst we're at it, you're knife skills are great honey."

I scowled, placing down the cutlery with much more force than necessary. "You win this time, mum. Don't expect such a victory again."

The doorbell rang. I adopted an excited look and pounced for the door, swinging it open to reveal a sheepish looking uncle and a Kakashi who was looking everywhere except at his dad. I repressed a sigh, mending relationships was not a microwave meal, it would take time. I stepped aside and ushered them in.

"Senpai, you came just in time! Guess what I made?"

"Broiled saury by the smell of it. And Mitama please, stop calling me that."

"Is that an order? Are you pulling the seniority card on me, senpai?"

He groaned, rubbing his face exasperatedly. I patted his arm sympathetically, "I also, was a victim to her wiles just before you two arrived. She's especially sadistic today." I gave her a petulant lour before taking a seat beside Kakashi. "How's it going Kashi?" I inserted slyly trying to prompt the desired reaction.

He fell bait and shot daggers at the wall opposite him but made no attempt to answer. A grin threatened to split my face. "Hey, hey. Kashi-kun, are you not going to answer me?"

He choked on his spit and then stared at me like I was some demon's spawn. Not far from the truth actually. Out of the corner of my eye, uncle and kaa-chan were just watching the show. I managed to look sufficiently innocent. Pulling out the puppy dog eyes and jutting out my bottom lip pitifully. His left eye quivered in irritation. I could tell he needed one last push.

"Kaka-chan!" I hollered right in his face.

He slammed his hands onto the table in front of him. I slowly pulled my face back at the diabolic aura flowing from him. Haha, didn't need chakra sensory sensitivity to identify that one as anger. "That's it. We're doing another bet. I'm nullifying our agreement for last time when I win." He stated with barely controlled fury.

"I never agreed to the bet!"

He turned his dark gaze on me, "You. Will. Agree."

I was grasping at loose straws here, "Fine. But you're going to give me a week. Same rules as before, most destructive jutsu wins. My deal is that if I win, you need to train me once a fortnight." I hadn't given up on that shape manipulation dream of mine yet. The lightning technique was definitely something to be added to my future repertoire of jutsus.

He narrowed his eyes before nodding. I took his hand and we shook on it in absolute seriousness. The adults in the room sported knowing smiles which only served to spur on Kakashi's vexation. His chagrin was eased however when the large pot of miso soup and eggplant hit the dining table. Everyone tried their best to stifle their laughter when they saw his face light up in childish awe at all the food kaa-chan had no doubt made just for him.

The two of us dug in with great vigour and somehow had it develop into an unspoken contest on who could eat the fastest. After my fifth bowl of rice I slid onto the floor, slowly crawling to the couch, being extra careful not to jostle the food baby I had conjured in the last half hour. Behind me, I heard a quiet groan from Kakashi who was holding a hand over his mask conspicuously. He too, removed himself from the table and sprawled on the couch beside me, albeit in a more dignified manner.

"You're lucky that wasn't the bet Kashi, I had three mouthfuls more than you." I uttered out slowly but triumphantly.

He made an indecipherable noise before groaning out, "You can't be a girl. You're a monster."

I cackled weakly, "That's right. Come back and challenge me when yourmother is Senju Mitama."

He quietened and I restrained my hand from smacking its owner in the face. Who the hell says that to someone who has lost their mother? I turned my head to apologise when I realised that his consciousness was no longer with us. I whisper shouted to uncle, "I think Kakashi-nii's in a food coma!"

Uncle Sakumo thanked and apologised to us profusely at the door with Kakashi drawn across his back. Mum waved it off as nothing, claiming that it was a compliment that her food was capable of inducing Kakashi into a state of unconsciousness. I grinned brightly, waving at his retreating back as the two disappeared into the darkness of the night, a picture perfect father and son duo. So picture perfect that I captured it on a camera.

Turning to mum I bared my teeth in a million watt smile, "So, how'd I do?"

She paused, seemingly contemplating my performance, "It's passable." She finally allowed with a matching grin.

* * *

A/N Should be expecting weekly updates from now on. :D


	6. Chapter 6

A procrastinator at heart, two days before the bet found me pulling at my hair in agitation. I had spent the past few days lounging around the compound reading scrolls and when I wasn't at home, I'd be napping in random trees occupying the outskirts of Konoha. Consequently, my plan to develop a powerful jutsu did not come into fruition. I sighed, well it was nice teasing Kakashi for all it was worth.

Sliding down from the tree, I sauntered out of the forest. My feet hadn't carried me more than ten steps, when from my side a large pool of chakra started making its way towards me at a very fast pace. I then realised as it was nearing, that it was actually many chakra signatures hurtling at me in one organised mass. I caught sight of the brown blur and distinguished the deer that were currently charging to my location with what seemed to be not so friendly intentions.

In disbelief of the situation I found myself in, it was all I could do to just stare in muted horror as the incoming wave of horned creatures flooded in. Shaking out of my reverie, I slowly backed off, turned around and then darted off with a herd of deer clipping at my heels. I let out a squeal as a strong leg almost managed to pin me down. "Bad deer." I reprimanded between breaths. The ground beneath me, pounded against my soles as I literally ran for my life. An antler nipped the edge of my sleeve, slashing through it cleanly. My eyes bulged at its viciousness. Who knew deer were so bloodthirsty? Whilst weaving between trees and skirting around rocks I screamed, "The hiraishin would be really great at this moment!"

There was a flash of movement and I found suddenly, that my feet were no longer on the ground as I was suspended from the collar of my shirt. I slowly turned to look at my saviour and met the displeased expression of Nara Shikaku. I gave the best shrug I could currently give as I dangled in his grasp. Shikaku gave the deer a stern look and they obediently backed off, retreating back into the forest leisurely.

"What were you doing in the Nara clan forest?" he finally asked as we headed back to the Nara compound.

I bit the inside of my cheek, not answering. I couldn't possibly tell him I was in there to sleep. He realised that he wouldn't be getting an answer and massaged the bridge of his nose letting out a deep sigh. "Will you be going back there any time soon?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

He ignored my snarky comment. "If you are then I can't stop you. But I'll need to introduce you to the deer and give them orders to not maul you the next time you decide to enter their territory."

My eyes sparkled. "You can do that?" Out of all the places, the Nara clan forest was the quietest and the easiest to sleep in. I shuddered, and now I think I've figured out the reason.

"On one condition."

I rolled my eyes. Of course there would be a catch. "Name your price, godfather." I declared with false bravado.

He adopted an ominous look and smirked slightly. "You need to feed them for me."

I was filled with cold trepidation. Not like this. "…Who?"

" _What._ " He confirmed with a glint in his eyes. "You'll be feeding the deer every second day." He tucked his arms behind his head, "It's a small price to pay considering I have no idea what you do in that forest."

I huffed, he made it sound like I was committing some perverse act that would ruin my image entirely if I wasn't able to conceal it in the safety of his forest… ok, so not far from the truth but was it necessary to make it sound so condemning? I crossed my arms across my chest, "You're just trying to cart off your responsibilities onto me aren't you. What would Yoshino-san say?" I sneaked in a sly glance to the side. When in doubt, use all the cards you've been dealt. And needless to say, godmother was my trump card.

"Nothing. You're obliged to maintain confidentiality when accepting this deal." He had a smug edge to his tone that riled me up beyond belief.

What an evil, cunning man. My respect was currently at war with insurmountable annoyance. We entered through the kitchen and found godmother cooking up a storm. The kitchen bench was filled with mouth-watering dishes and it didn't seem like she'd be stopping any time soon. "Hello Yoshino-san. What's with all the food?"

She turned to me with a stressed smile, "Hi Kareha. The Akimichi and Yamanaka are coming over today. This food is for them."

I nodded in understanding, "I would offer to help, but kaa-chan says I'm forbidden from entering a kitchen."

She gave a laugh, "I've heard of all your failed endeavours in the kitchen. Don't worry, just find yourself a man that can cook and you're all set." She turned to glare at Shikaku who had taken to the couch immediately upon entering the house. "As long as they're nothing like that lazy piece of work that I have to call husband."

I shook my head at Shikaku reclining on the couch, propping his head in a hand lazily. "I'm actually thinking of living off mum for the rest of my life. Seems like the best option as of now." I started listing the benefits off my fingers, "No relationship troubles. No need to worry about food. Don't need to make an income. It's great."

"Your mother would be choking on her blood hearing you say that." Yoshino said, amused.

I waved my hand airily, "No way, she loves it when I say things like that. She's so overprotective that she's willing to mother hen me my whole life than allow me to get married."

Shikaku snorted in the background and ended up with a slipper to the head. "Get off your lazy ass Shikaku and do the laundry."

He groaned something along the lines of 'troublesome woman' and headed out back. I stifled a laugh, a man needed to be whipped to get things done. "Yeh and this troublesome woman's the one keeping you fed, you lackadaisical bum!" Ah, so she had heard it after all.

Yoshino then turned to me with a piece of tempura pinched between her chopsticks. I opened my mouth obediently as she popped it onto my blessed tastebuds. I munched blissfully, shooting her a thumbs up. She nodded eagerly and moved on to the next thing for me to try. And then the next. And the next. Cradling a bloated stomach, I wiped my hands on my pants and stood up. "Thanks for everything, Yoshino-san but I think I'm going to have to leave first. I have a destructive jutsu to magically learn in two days."

If she was confused she didn't show it. "Good luck and do come visit again!"

"Will do!" I'll have to anyway. Deer feeding was once every two days after all. God damn Shikaku.

* * *

People shot curious glances at this small girl perched onto a table that was too tall for her, peering through mountains of paper and muttering to herself like she was possessed. And indeed I was possessed, by the motivation to keep taunting the crap out of Kakashi.

After an hour sprawling over books in the library I decided that fuinjutsu was my best bet. With my skills, it was the most achievable jutsu that would reap the most power in the shortest amount of time. I just needed to figure out what seal to make. To be honest, I could just try and improve my dust release seal and push it onto a larger scale. But that wasn't exactly plausible in my given time frame. I wasn't even sure of it was possible to upgrade the jutsu without sucking me dry of chakra.

I pressed a finger to my bottom lip. I could potentially tweak some explosive seals and blow up a whole training ground. But that seemed way too unfair and frankly, really unoriginal. Besides, that would be only destructive in quantity and not quality. And sealing was all about finesse. I exited the library. Perhaps it was time to pay shishou a visit.

The door swung open for me before I had a chance to knock. Kushina's long red hair greeted my mouth as I was snuggled into her body like a teddy bear. I fell lax in her hold, doing my utmost just to get those precious breaths of air in. "I was wondering when you were going to come." She said as she finally peeled me away from her hold. "I heard you made a bet with Kakashi."

I nodded. It was unsurprising that she'd find out.

"Well since Minato is helping Kakashi with his jutsu, it only makes sense for me to help you." Her eyes started sparkling in an eerie manner that reminded me a lot of someone. "So, what's the game plan?"

I gave her a sheepish shrug. "I'm not sure?"

She rolled her eyes and shuffled me into a chair on the dining table before pulling out scrolls from her shelf swiftly. A few moments later, there were more scrolls than table space and I marvelled at the quality of each one.

"Impressed?" she asked.

I nodded enthusiastically. She offered me a simple 'just Uzumaki things' that I accepted readily. This would definitely get me up to scratch for the bet. There was even a small hope that sparked inside me, perhaps winning wouldn't just be a dream. "So how are we going to do this?"

A sinister look passed her face. "We focus on our strengths and attack him where it hurts."

I should've known. Her words were more promising than the results. After her little pep speech I had been left alone reading through scroll after scroll to brainstorm some ideas. Finally I found something quite interesting. "Shishou! I've got something!"

She awoke from the couch and ambled over tiredly. "Yes?"

I slanted a criticising look at her dishevelled form. She watched me expectantly, haphazardly pulling the back of her hand across the drool plastered to the side of her mouth. Shaking my head I began explaining my master plan. "How about, a gravity chakra core that rips up everything in its vicinity and draws everything towards it? And then obviously we'll include a barrier around it to confine its effects but doesn't it sound awesome?" I gushed.

One look at her excited expression and I could tell she was fully on board. "This is playing to my strengths as well since I have quite a bit of knowledge on space time ninjutsu." I added.

She grinned triumphantly, finally looking like the Whirlpool princess that she was. "And I'm unrivalled when it comes to gravity seals. Victory is ours, little one."

For the whole night, we compared sealing arrangements and plugged different techniques together trying to combine the gravity aspect with space-time ninjutsu. There was minimal conversing, just grunts here and there as we pointed out mistakes and telepathically communicated our ideas from one seal fanatic to the next. I was balanced at three books high to help boost me to the height of the kitchen table. Inevitably, my butt ached and so did my cramped hand and pulsing head.

Minato had come in on us sporting matching racoon eyes and grumbling every so often. He had gone to inform kaa-chan that I wouldn't be coming home that night and then returned with a large supply of coffee for Kushina and bitter lollies for me. They tasted putrid but worked like a charm if you wanted to stay awake. Minato tried to linger around and offer us help but Kushina was violently adamant about sticking to the integrity of the bet and also something about him potentially sabotaging our seal. Judging from his personality, the latter seemed unimaginable.

In the wee hours of the morning, we finally managed to put together the seal and stabilise the core. We decided a small nap was in order before the both of us passed out. The next time we awoke it was almost dinner time. I freaked out and Kushina started flapping around like a headless chicken. There wasn't enough time to produce a barrier seal to specifically contain our 'spinning black hole gravity chakra core space time fuinjutsu' let alone counteract its effects. Oh, and by the way, the name was inspired by Minato. We let him have that much as he seemed really put out with having no hands on time with the seal.

"I have an idea." I paused, tapping the side of my head with a brush, "We could change the seal so that it needs to be continuously supplied with chakra to be activated and that way we could control its power and stop it from destroying everything."

Kushina contemplated this before agreeing readily. "Nice one Kareha-chan. But since you're the only one that can participate in the bet, will your chakra reserves be able to support the seal?"

I grinned. "Don't worry shishou. I have everything under control." I patted the small tattoos on the inside of my wrists. "These babies have half a year's worth of chakra stored in them."

She ruffled my hair proudly, "Best student ever. Shall we take it for a test run?"

We headed to the backyard and cleared off the space. Kushina set up a few preventative barriers as I readied the seal. I stuck it onto the ground and relaxed my hands into a tiger seal before slowly easing chakra into it. The ground beside the seal started cracking slightly and then as I released more chakra, it crinkled like paper and pulled towards the seal. Dirt started to clump in a ball, drawing at the centre of the seal. Before I started to make a dent on my reserves, I halted the flow of chakra. Without the force pulling inwards, all the debris the seal had picked up began to pool back onto the ground. I turned to grin at Kushina who returned my enthusiasm with a bright smile and thumbs up.

That night, Kushina walked me home despite my assuring that I could handle myself. She mentioned something about lecherous paedophiles whilst trying to smile comfortingly. And yes, her contradictory style of speaking was a frightening sight.

On our way home, she patted me on the back. "You did well, Kareha-chan. You have such an innovative mind, reminds me a lot of Minato. I can see why this branch of shinobi arts fits you two so well." I beamed under her compliments. "Get some good rest. I was told that you start the academy tomorrow morning."

I froze, crap. I'd completely forgotten. "Then what about the bet?"

She chortled, "Don't worry, Kakashi will figure something out. He hates your nicknames with a passion after all."

I inclined my head in concurrence, slightly lost in thought. "Do you think I'll win against Kakashi?"

"Judging from Minato's confidence, Kakashi seems to have put in a lot of work. But I have no doubt that you'll put up a good fight." She poked my nose lightly, "And that's all I really want to see."

"Thanks, Kushina-san." I blushed prettily under her attention. It wasn't often that I had such unwavering succour and from someone that owed me nothing no less. Kushina had a really warm charisma that enveloped you regardless of who you were.

Kaa-chan met us at the front of the house and drew Kushina into an embrace. "Thank you for taking care of the little bugger."

She grinned widely. "It was no problem. I happen enjoy the company of little buggers very much."

I stared at the two, disgruntled. How they managed to bond so fast escaped me. It seemed that in the face of a superordinate goal – bullying me – people tended to come together in the weirdest ways.

Mum pulled away with a laugh, "Well if you don't mind, I'll look forward to you taking care of her more often." She hid a smile behind her hand, "And I won't keep you from your dinner date with Minato."

Kushina blushed a tomato red, coughing slightly, "Yes, I uh, should go then. Good luck for tomorrow, Kareha-chan!" she waved running off.

Kaa-chan sighed dreamily, "Young love."

I let out a derisive noise, "Last time I checked, you've had your full dose of young love, kaa-chan." This earned me a smack over the head.

"You're the result of that dose of young love. You're slighting your own existence here honey."

I groaned, in every situation she'd always end up making me eat my own words. "Can you not just let me win one argument?"

She stared at me as if to ask 'really?' I conceded. It was indeed a pretty dumb question even by my standards.

* * *

A/N Hope y'all are doing well. Here's a short and sweet chappie to finish off the week. Next week's chapter is gonna be a riot. :)


	7. Chapter 7

A massive pulse of chakra made me choke on air in my sleep. And that was how I was woken abruptly, as I tried to breathe in gulps of precious oxygen. "Mum! How many time have I said not to do that?!" I hollered.

"It's effective! Now hurry up and get down here!" she yelled back.

I grumbled, pulling a kimono on and tying my hair up neatly with a kanzashi that uncle had gifted me with the other day. Stupid false alarms. I specifically told her not to blast chakra like that especially since hers was so potent. It sent my body's security measures haywire, launching it into battle mode. My reactions tended to be _very_ unpredictable and could either trigger violent outbursts or scare me into a state where I was incapable of performing involuntary bodily functions, such as breathing as I had demonstrated this fine morning.

Descending down the hallway, my nose crinkled in disgust as a bowl of what could only be described as vegetable gunk was shoved into my face. "What the hell is this?"

"A diluted liquid version of a chakra pill." She shook it in my face. "Down it in one go, and hold your nose."

I reluctantly obeyed and tipped the whole thing back, supressing my gag reflex. "W-water." I gasped. As I washed down the disgusting liquid I watched kaa-chan in my periphery. She was packing this elaborate bento with enough food to feed a nation. "Mum please, I'm leaving for half a day. You don't need to make so much food."

She stopped mid-movement. "Is this too much?"

Seeing her kicked puppy dog expression, I waved my hand, "No keep going. I'll need the energy."

That was how I found myself heaving a mountain of food that barely fitted through the doorway. Half way to the academy I remembered to seal away the boxes and spent the other half of the trip mentally reprimanding myself for being so slow.

"13A…13B…13C." I stopped. This was my classroom. And it seemed that I was early. As expected, kaa-chan was way too enthusiastic with reading the time. I quietly propped open the door and noiselessly slipped inside. I took the furthest window seat from the front and settled in, contently staring at clouds floating in the sky.

Half an hour later, a boy entered, took one long look at me and then exited again. I watched him eyeing the classroom's number plate slightly confused before he sauntered back into the class, a hand scratching the back of his head. He gave a non-committal shrug and took a seat in the middle row.

I myself was also perplexed at this turn of events. The boy was about twice my age and… I twitched my nose… undoubtedly a Nara. The soft tendrils of deep green chakra curled and unfurled comfortably as he rested his head upon an arm and fell asleep. Lord save this clan from their impending doom that would eventually come as a direct result of their apathy.

Five minutes later, another student came in, she was also in her double digits if her height was anything to go by. She grunted at the sight of the Nara before her eyes landed on mine. I shook my head. Once was a coincidence…twice…Goddamn Naras knew everything.

As she headed for me I found my back straightening unconsciously. Her voice was surprisingly gentle… but also somewhat _patronising_. "Hi there little girl. Are you lost? Do you need any help finding your classroom?"

I closed my eyes and reminded myself to breathe. She had good intentions, that's what counts. I tried to put on a smile that probably manifested itself as a strained grimace instead. "Is this Yahiro-sensei's class?"

She blinked, "Uh, yeh. I mean, yes. Yes it is." Her mind seemed to connect the dots and she pointed an accusing finger at my face, "You… you can't be a new student?" she leaned closer, examining my face before prompting me again, this time less assured, "Are you a new student?"

I nodded.

She leaned back, kicking up her legs onto the table. "You're miniature for an 11 year old. Or did you skip a few grades?"

I glowered. Apparently so. I had been completely blind sighted by kaa-chan's machinations once again. And this time Yahiro was also in on it. I decided to amuse the girl with another nod of the head.

"That explains it. Hope you can keep up. The name's Furumi. Nice to meetcha."

I took her hand. "Kareha." I offered quietly.

She squinted at me, once again invading my personal space. "You're a quiet one aren't you? All the talented kids usually are. Well, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, you don't seem to be arrogant like the others. We should get along well."

By the seventh tangent she had taken in our one sided conversation, my fingers started convulsing beneath the desk. Irritation marred my barely constrained features. Not that she was a particularly terrible person to interact with, but her lack of awareness for personal space and incessant chatter was wearing thin my patience.

"Furumi, shut up. I want to sleep." The Nara intoned to my vicious delight.

The girl in question immediately shot to her feet in fury, "Go to hell Jin! Just continue to sleep and don't ever wake up!"

He mumbled 'troublesome' under his breath and fell back onto his arm. I frowned at his easy dismissal. Furumi turned to me with an apologetic smile, "Sorry about that guy, he's a bit of a lazy prick."

"The Nara are genetically predisposed to be that way." I agreed quietly.

She shot me a bewildered stare and burst out into fits of laughter. She held her sides, wiping a tear from her eye, "You- I thought you weren't capable of speaking more than two words. You're a pretty ok girl."

I grimaced at her sudden onslaught of enthusiastic appreciation for my ability to communicate a full sentence.

Before Furumi was able to set off into another conversation about something I could not care less about, a boisterous boy made his appearance with a loud bang, commando rolling through the door and launching to his feet into an unbalanced stance. He wobbled slightly, before straightening up and pointing his index finger to the roof, "Good morning to all! Your favourite classmate has arrived!" he bellowed.

I winced away from his pair of well-endowed lungs. What an impressive decibel range. His attention fell onto me. "What's the child doing here? Whose sister are you? Where are your parents? Are you lost?" he shot question after question in quick succession so rapidly that the words melded into one.

"Oh my gosh you idiot. Shut the hell up, you're scaring her. She's a new student who has skipped a few grades."

I was starting to regret arriving so early. I gave him a weak wave that I hoped conveyed my intentions of steering away from further interaction. "Nice to make your acquaintance! I'm Eino!"

Furumi jabbed a thumb in my direction, "That's Kareha, she's a bit quiet so try not to overwhelm her."

My eye spasm-ed in annoyance at the unhealthy amount of hypocrisy this girl was harbouring.

After Eino's exuberant entrance, the other students began slowly milling in. Luckily those who were curious enough to question my presence were dealt with by Furumi, my self-appointed spokesperson. An Uchiha boy eventually swaggered into the class ten minutes before class started, with a legion of girls trailing behind in an uncontrolled mass. The girls performed in a frightening act, alternating between 'seductive' simpering and outright clawing each other's faces off. A little examination around the room cemented my deduction of this being a daily occurrence. Most of the other boys in the class just gave a roll of their eyes and continued talking to one another. Furumi seemed to be immune to the Uchiha charm and folded her arms across her chest with a huff. "An absolute disgrace to all kunoichi." As she continued giving all the girls pining after the Uchiha the stink eye. I tried to make myself as small as possible and held my breath for Yahiro-sensei's swift appearance.

With a puff of smoke, my prayers were answered and Yahiro materialised in front of the class, causing everyone to halt their conversations. "Good morning class. I'm sure you've already noticed, but we have a new student. Come to the front please."

I heeded his instructions and glowered at him as indiscreetly as possible. This awful spawn of Satan deserved to have his intestines ripped out and smeared across his face. I plastered on a subdued version of mum's sickly sweet 'don't mess with me' smile, "My name's Senju Kareha. Nice to meet you all and I hope you take care of me."

Yahiro gave a satisfied nod as the class mutterings started up again. I picked up hushed whispers and the words, 'Senju', 'young' and 'joke'. Ah, the prevalence of inferiority complexes never ceases to amaze. I've come to learn that you tend to attract quite some jealousy and hatred when your fame is pre-empted before birth. Decidedly ignoring these comments, I returned to my seat. A boy put up his hand. "Sensei, isn't Kareha-chan a bit young to be attending this class? She doesn't look a day older than four." If it wasn't for the derogatory tone he had taken, I would've passed it off as a harmless statement. The scathing edge cut through all the pretend niceties.

Yahiro cleared his throat and the class once again silenced. "I can assure you that Kareha is well equipped to handle this class. If it puts you at more ease, I examined her myself." His scrutinising sweep over the classroom seemed to put the little brats in their places both literally and figuratively. "Now, as you all know, we'll be graduating at the end of this year. In order to prepare you all for that, we'll start off with some practicals. On that note, let's brush up on the kawarimi today. Make an orderly line outside and we'll begin practice."

As I passed the boy who had voiced his displeasure in front of the class, he pushed at me shoulder roughly, almost knocking me into the desk had I not managed to stabilise myself in time. He turned around to give an insincere apology before darting off to his friends who laughed mockingly. I turned to come face to face with the Uchiha boy. He gave me a smirk and a smug shrug of the shoulders before moving around me. I narrowed my eyes.

Everyone was soon ordered into a line and began substituting themselves with a rock that lay a few metres in front of them. I flicked through the hand signs with practiced ease and effortlessly swapped positions with my rock.

"Oh look, the baby can use chakra." A snide voice commented from behind me.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Furumi asked, stepping in.

"Hah, of course you'd try and help the baby. You losers tend to like flocking together."

"Spoken from experience." I coughed into my hand very loudly.

The boy bristled and yelled, "What was that?"

I gave an innocent smile, "Sorry, it seems like this baby's choked on the smell of…what was that word again?" I hardened my eyes, _"Incompetency."_

I watched in pleasure as his fists bawled up besides his quivering body. Yes, come on... Attack me, then I have an excuse to fight back.

He seemed to read my mind as he cocked his fist back and began running towards me. "Yahiro-sensei! Taiga's trying to hit Kareha-chan!" the boy stopped in his tracks with a growl and turned to glare at Furumi who looked super haughty having ratted him out.

Yahiro scanned us down and quickly gathered what had occurred. "Well then, since everyone has so much to say about our new friend, let's do some light sparring."

They all groaned and left their spots to gather around the sparring pit but there was an unmistakeable buzz of excitement to see what the new kid could do.

"Right, Taiga, since you had the most to say, why don't you go first? Kareha. Go join him in the circle."

I watched Yahiro carefully from the corner of my eyes as I entered the ring. What was he thinking matching me up with this idiotic baboon? Not that I didn't appreciate this opportunity served to me on a golden platter, but he could at least show some concern for the puny existence of his student.

He paid no heed to my questioning glance. "Everything's up for use, nothing is out of bounds. First person to get knocked down or out of the ring, wins. Start when you're ready."

"You're so dead." The boy mouths at me. The rest of the class cheered him on with loud hoots.

I closed my eyes and heaved a sigh. This seemed to rile him up even more, he came flying at me with a clumsy fist, roaring as he did so. I grimaced, I had no time for childish games. I extended my leg out, channelling chakra into it and high kicked, cleanly launching his whole body out of the ring. He flew pass the chalk drawn border and bounced twice before landing on the floor with a thud.

The crowd went dead silent. Yahiro cleared his throat and decided to step in, "Someone take Taiga to the nurse." Two students shuffled forward to carry Taiga's limp body off inside. Sensei's eyes gleamed, "Now who's next."

I stared at him. Despite my swift victory, I felt no gratification. How could I relish in this farce that was really just poorly hidden entertainment for Yahiro. The man was a devil. An actual demon to his students. A demon that I would be putting up with for a year. I then wondered if he had inherited his sadistic streak from kaa-chan. I shuddered, most likely.

Nobody said a thing. Yahiro took the silence as an answer and sent everybody back to practicing their kawarimi. Eino and Furumi quickly made their way towards me and started gushing about how cool I was. "How did you do that? You went 'fwoosh' and then 'smash' and he then - he went 'kaboom' and flew out of the ring!" Furumi shoved Eino's face away, putting a stop to his detailed commentary.

"Dude, that was really awesome. Jeez, I now know why they moved you up so many classes. The Senju really are cut from a different cloth than the rest, huh?"

I avoided their sparkling awe, slightly put out that once again my own abilities had been chalked up to my lineage. Unprepared with an answer, I simply shrugged and offered them a grimace.

The rest of the day went by in relative peace. Nobody had dared to comment on my young age let alone physically try to bother me. For some reason I had been drawn into a gang of sorts by Furumi, Eino and a reluctant Nara. Lunch time was spent with the Nara and I eating quietly as Furumi and Eino quarrelled endlessly.

When classes had come to an end, I was all too glad to escape the academy. Thoroughly drained I heaved myself from the desk but was asked to stay behind by Yahiro. "So, how'd you find your first day?"

"Troublesome." I drawled, borrowing a choice word from the Nara's.

He gave a mirthless chuckle. "You gave Taiga a concussion." He watched carefully for a reaction.

"Good." I replied, flicking grit from beneath my nails in absolute boredom. What was the crafty demon trying to pull now?

"Well," he gave me an encouraging pat, "Off you go then."

I left feeling like I'd missed a whole lot of hidden meanings to the seemingly insignificant conversation. As I made my way to the academy gates I was met with resistance from someone blocking my path. I quickly identified that it was our class's resident fangirl magnet.

"Uchiha." I acknowledged.

"I challenge you to a duel, Senju."

I rolled a shoulder back giving him an unimpressed stare. It wasn't like I was afraid of him or anything, but the frequent testosterone driven fight picking was honestly getting quite tedious. I tried to move past him only to have the Uchiha flicker in front again. "It wasn't an invitation."

You know what, perhaps before I wasn't interested, but this Uchiha seemed to have a natural talent for pissing me off. I shrugged, I had time to spare I guess. "As you wish then, _Uchiha-sama_." I delivered a mocking bow.

He circled me with a sneer. "Just because you beat the dead last, don't expect that you'll be able to do the same with me. You should watch yourself, little Senju. Wouldn't want to end up dead like the rest of your clan."

Yikes, a personal vendetta against the Senjus. Of course it would be. Few Uchihas could set aside their irrational hatred for their famed rival clan. It wasn't a surprise that this one was brought up to be no different.

"What? Too good to answer? Or are you just scared. It's not too late to turn tail and run. I'll understand."

What was with all prepubescent boys running their mouths off before a fight? I humoured him. "You seem to have an inferiority complex towards my clan. And I don't think you've yet realised that you're picking a fight with someone half your age as you spout this nonsense."

He snarled and shot an unexpected leg sweep. I bounded back lightly and laughed. " _And_ you're underhanded. But that's perhaps your only redeeming quality as a shinobi."

He flickered on his sharingan with a smug smirk. "I was going to go easy on you, but now you've just dug your own grave." He spat at the ground beside me and rushed forwards.

I rolled my eyes, settling them at a position just below his neck. So what if he had the sharingan. There was no use to a tool if one couldn't utilise it properly. What was the saying, the weapon was only as strong as its wielder.

I had to admit though, his speed was to be commended, for an ungraduated student. Unfortunately it wasn't going to work in his favour. I shunshinned forward to meet him halfway, hurling my knee into his stomach whilst simultaneously pushing his body forward with a sharp tug at his shoulders. He gave a strangled cough as I knocked the wind out of him. I followed up immediately, casting rough jabs at his tenketsu in quick succession, closing off just enough of his chakra points to cripple him temporarily. It was safe to say that he wouldn't be using chakra for at least a week. I stopped short at the last tenketsu as he almost fell back in defeat. He was lucky I wasn't a Hyuga or I'd be nailing every single one of his dumbass chakra points.

"Not so fast, Uchiha." Flashing behind him, I gave him a sweeping kick to the back, keeping him upright. "The winner isn't declared until one of us falls." I grabbed him roughly by the collar. His eyes widened in fear when they met mine. His feeble attempt at genjutsu barely took form before I dissipated it with an angry flare of chakra. If the fool was still capable of using chakra, clearly my fighting style needed to be refined. Again. I internally groaned.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw multiple figures all simultaneously rushing towards me. Releasing the Uchiha I huffed in annoyance. An ambush. This wasn't a good situation I found myself in. Long drawn out fights were not my forte and I could definitely start feeling the strain in my muscles that have been stressed by chakra overload. I shot the pathetic Uchiha a look of disgust. That cowardly dirt bag.

I deflected a punch to the head and redirected it into another assailant's face, flipping over his shoulder and landing behind the group of five. I fell back into a loose fighting stance and braced myself for a uh... _tactical_ retreat. However this was deemed unnecessary as an oppressive flood of killing intent covered the air in a thick blanket. The boys that had previously been energetically coming at me, cowered on the ground, just about ready to pee their pants.

I turned to see Kakashi who seemed extremely vexed, even more so than usual. My eyes glistened. _My saviour!_ "I've waited a whole day for you, Senju. Just so you could finish your stupid classes and you make me wait at the front of the academy for a _whole half hour_?"

I ducked my head in half annoyance and half remorse. "Blame them. These assholes tried to get funny with me." My eye caught Yahiro's face staring at us from one of the classroom windows, most likely enjoying the show. Caught red handed, he waved at me with a fake smile. I clenched my fists, that demon teacher was so getting it tomorrow.

Kakashi glanced at the bullies that had been reduced to a quailing mess and then at the Uchiha that I had dispatched, unceremoniously sprawled onto the ground. He massaged the bridge of his nose not even attempting to question the situation. With a disinterested flick of the wrist he gestured for me to follow him and strode out of the academy gates. I followed with hastened steps. I must've really underestimated how much he hated those nicknames.

As soon as we arrived at an empty training ground he turned around to stare at me. "Remember, your right to assigning me your vacuous names will be retracted."

I yawned into my hand to portray the indifference and confidence that I did not currently possess. "Right, and I'll look forward to training with you in the future and continuing with my _endearments_."

I imagined how currently his irritation would be colouring his cheeks pink beneath his mask and how his mouth would be twisting into a snarl, teeth grinding in fury. Ahuh, I'd have to savour this moment for as long as I could. After all when today ends, Kashi-chan would be no more.

"So what's your party trick today, Kashi-kun?" I deliberately widened my eyes to a comical size and blinked innocently just to antagonise him.

"This." He replied. The sharp sound of chirping birds lit up the air as dense electricity began gathering at his hand. I furrowed my brows. Had he managed to perfect the technique? Perhaps, even improve on it?

A clone appeared at his side and started moulding a spinning ball of chakra that was rapidly being whisked away into the chidori that was manifesting in his own hand. The two amalgamated into a large ball of whirling chakra, crackling electricity sparking up along its edges. With a burst of speed that seemed to be heightened by his technique, he dashed, blowing through multiple trees like slicing through warm butter. I made the mistake of blinking.

A summoning barrier jutsu suddenly extended from the ground, the triple rashomon gates sprouted forwards shaking the ground beneath my feet. Despite the penetrative force behind Kakashi's jutsu diminishing, he did not cease to pound through gate after gate. Explosions erupted at every collision with the next gate until his chakra finally dissipated.

The now completely wrecked training ground was noiseless as a lone boy stood in middle of it, seemingly bathing in the destruction he had single-handedly created. Suddenly he swayed in his position before slumping to the ground. A blonde figure darted forwards, catching him in advance to his fall. Shaking out of my trance, I ran forwards also, to where Kakashi lay, swimming in and out of consciousness.

"Kakashi-nii, are you ok?" I asked quietly, his eyes were struggling to stay open but he still managed to don a smug smirk.

"I'm more than ok. I've won." He rasped. I stared at his smouldered hand that was peeling and bleeding by his side. The entire left sleeve of his shirt was completely tattered and his injuries spread from his hand all the way up to his shoulder.

"You're a dumb idiot."

"The 'dumb' is redundant."

"You're redundant."

His clever response was passing out.

* * *

A/N Please don't hurt me. I hope Kakashi doesn't seem too OP because I really think he needs this. If anything, it doesn't make sense that he wouldn't have nailed this jutsu since he's always been hailed as a 'genius'. My Kakashi deserves to be strong and he really has to be if he wants to keep up with Kareha. :) Heads up, all questions and/or inconsistencies will most likely be solved in the next chapter, so just hold out.

Hope you've all had a good week, see you next time!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N Everyone doing well? Here's the next installment.

* * *

I kept up to his pace with quickened steps, glancing worriedly at the unconscious Kakashi every other second. "Are you sure he'll be ok?" I asked for the fifth time to an awfully patient Minato. He had the disposition of a saint.

"Don't worry Kareha, lightening chakra shouldn't have any debilitating effects on its users. These are mostly surface injuries. He's just suffering from chakra exhaustion." There was a slight pause before he spoke again. "Kakashi's trained really hard to create this jutsu." His mouth crinkled into a soft smile.

Looking at his hands, I deduced that his injuries weren't just a consequence of today's jutsu. He'd most likely accumulated them over the week. "I can't refute that." I agreed quietly. I turned my curious gaze to Minato, "So how did he create that monster of a jutsu anyway?"

He seemed amused by my interest. "The chidori was his original attempt at fusing one of my jutsus, the rasengan with lightening nature. It was an unsuccessful attempt."

"You call that an unsuccessful attempt?" I cried in disbelief. Perfectionists… every last one of them.

He smiled indulgently. "Maybe that was the wrong choice of words. But the chidori was not… _the desired product_. I thought he had given up on trying to create that technique. But then a week ago, he came to me saying he had an idea and that he needed my help. I eventually tackled it out of him and found out the two of you had an ongoing competition of sorts between you." He adjusted Kakashi in his arms. "It turns out he'd been working on it for quite some time now." -'without me' was left unsaid - "And now, after a week of non-stop practice and minimal guidance, his tenacity gave birth to the Revolving Thunder Zero Style Chidori Rasengan." He declared proudly.

Kakashi stirred in his hold. I patted his arm with a commiserating hand, I could understand as I too was a victim of Minato's atrocious naming ability.

Minato's eyebrows drew together in a frown. "Though I'm a bit annoyed Kakashi didn't bother to tell me when the bet was. His jutsu is incredibly dangerous." He added under his breath. "Especially since he hasn't completed it yet." "If I hadn't been there to stop it, the destruction would not have stopped there."

"He would've obliterated the whole forest…" I breathed in agreement.

When we arrived at the hospital the head doctor gave Minato an earful, blasting her complaints into his ear with great vigour and unstoppable wrath. I stood off to the side awkwardly and fortunately unnoticed.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T THINK THERE'D BE SIDE EFFECTS? ARE YOU DAFT MINATO?! THE NERVES IN HIS LEFT HAND ARE COMPLETELY FRIED YOU DUMBASS! YOU MIGHT AS WELL HAVE SUBMERGED HIS ARM IN HOT OIL AND COOKED IT FOR DINNER YOU MORONIC IMBECILE!" She then stormed off to tend to other patients, letting Minato slowly slide to the ground in a fatigued heap.

I blinked owlishly at him. "No offence Minato-san, but you kind of deserved that. Had the doctor not yelled at you, I would've done it in her stead." I for one, felt majorly disappointed that Minato hadn't realised the toll this jutsu had on Kakashi. I guess geniuses made mistakes too.

He groaned into his hands. "I know, I thought that because the chidori had been harmless, the fusing of it with the rasengan would've mirrored its physical impact." He shook his head tiredly, "That jutsu was way too dangerous to be attempted. As Kakashi's sensei, I shouldn't have encouraged him let alone help him create it." I stared at his slumped shoulders wondering how long he'd be continuing his self-condemnation rant. "I don't deserve to be his sensei. He needs someone better. I've already shown myself incapable of protecting him-"

"-Minato-san." I placed a hand on his shoulder, "Just because you did your student a great injustice, doesn't mean you can't make it up to him..." I let the suggestion trail off.

He stared at me in surprise and prompted me with his wide eyes. I returned his eager curiosity with a mischievous grin. "We're gonna make him a seal." I announced grandly. Minato nodded along to my idea. "Kakashi-nii's just gotten this jutsu, so let's make it so that he gets to reap its destruction for many more years to come!"

"That's nice and all Kareha-chan, but was it necessary to word it in such an… inauspicious manner?"

I rolled my eyes. "I described the ravaging capabilities of his technique accurately. No point in trying to sugar coat it. Now, let's get to work before Kakashi-nii wakes up." I pulled him up to his feet and darted off playfully.

Hours later found the two of us in a situation awfully reminiscent to how Kushina and I spent the last two days. "Existence is painful…" I groaned into the mess of papers in front of me. Because of the impossible time schedule I had set for us, our faces were splattered tastefully with ink and exhaustion. Throwing down the brush, I conceded defeat. I crawled to the couch where Kushina sat, enjoying a cup of tea and rested my head in her lap.

"It's fine Kareha-chan, you've done more than enough. I'll finish up the seal, you should probably go home." he peered at the clock, "You've got the academy tomorrow morning."

I uprighted myself sheepishly, "I forgot about that."

Kushina rubbed the top of my head affectionately, "C'mon Reha-chan, I'll take you home. We can grab the gloves on the way there." I nodded in assent. Grabbing a borrowed scroll on seals, I left Minato to slave away at out surprise gift for Kakashi.

On the way home, we dropped by a few shops selling shinobi wear and checked out some gloves to apply the seal to. After lots of debate and careful selection, we eventually settled on a pair of reinforced black gloves reaching just below the elbows that were made of chakra conductive material. Despite her demure appearance, Kushina had a mean streak for bargaining. In that regard, I shouldn't even be surprised anymore, the way she switches from content to furious was a frightening miracle in itself.

I beamed happily at our purchase and imagined the surprise Kakashi was going to get when we presented the gift to him. "So before applying the seal, can you do some maintenance sealing on the gloves? And something to stop discolouration and the material from getting dirty easily. I was thinking of adding the metal guards on it also, so it doesn't deviate too much from his old gear. You know how shinobi get with being too used to their own weapons and such." I rattled off unhelpfully. Kushina listened to it all indulgently, up until we reached the compound, where she disappeared suddenly with a poor excuse. It was probably her form of escape before kaa-chan could assault her with sneaky remarks on her relationship with Minato.

"Kaa-chan! I'm home!"

"You're home are you?" Oh no. That sinister tone. The slow strides. The red tinted chakra. The crumpled sheet of paper in her hand… wait sheet of paper?

She stopped right in front of me with a menacing smile. "I haven't gotten mail in a week, so just imagine my excitement when this thing came in the mail." She drawled waving the paper in my face. "And then I open it, to find a notice for disciplinary action. I read it over ten times, Kareha. Ten times. I thought, it couldn't be for my daughter, she had only started at the academy _that very day._ But then somebody came ringing at the door. They had their beaten up sons by their side, furiously yelling at me. _At me._ For not raising my daughter properly, for giving birth to a barbarian that hurt their little babies!"

I winced away from her steadily rising volume. She threw the notice in the air, "Out of all the people you could've beaten up, you pick the civilians that have large financial backing-"

"-Wait, civilians? As in, non-Uchihas?" I interrupted with trepidation.

She peered down at me sternly, "Yes, not Uchihas. In this situation, I'd almost rather it be the Uchihas. They'd at least be more understanding with a bit of playground rough and tumble."

A nervous laugh escaped my lips. "Kaa-chan, what if theoretically I also gave an Uchiha the one two?"

The temperature dropped a few degrees. I suppressed a shudder. "Kareha, you did what?"

I threw my hands up in surrender. "I honestly only attacked one Uchiha, and it was out of self-defence. When the coward got his ass handed to him, he called for back-up. I barely even touched the civilians before Kakashi-nii showed up with his killer eyes and scared the dimwits half to death."

Kaa-chan stood there, staring at me for a long while. I shuffled under her gaze awkwardly until she finally spoke. "Alright Kareha, if your own mother won't believe you then who will? I'll deal with the whole debacle and get your suspension waived as soon as possible. If the situation gets out of hand, Hiruzen-sama will step in and vouch for you." Her eyes softened as she brought me into her arms. "My daughter's first day at school and she's already getting into trouble. What am I going to do with you, Kareha?"

I pressed my nose into the crook of her neck. She smelled of flowers and spring leaves. "Sorry kaa-chan." I murmured quietly.

"I love you too, honey."

I pulled back abruptly with an accusation flying from my lips, "You didn't mention that I'd be put in a class full of older kids. Did I have no choice at all? Me being half their age was one of the main reason I'm being suspended in the first place."

She had the deference to look slightly sheepish. "There was no other class to place you in. Yahiro and I both agreed that you wouldn't like it in the younger classes. You'd be bored."

"You're telling me, that in the whole of Konoha there's not a single home tutor or some kind of alternative to the academy?"

"The academy is more than just a place to learn. It's an opportunity to interact with others and observe how the village functions in other ways than through books and scrolls." She admonished lightly. But even to her it must've sounded like a pretty weak excuse. She clapped her hands together in an attempt to change the subject and ushered me into the kitchen. "So have you had dinner?"

I nodded. "Kushina fed me ramen."

"Right then, off to sleep then. I'll be running around tomorrow fixing up the misunderstanding. You're free to do anything, just don't go beating more people up."

"I'm not some hooligan that attacks people for just looking at me the wrong way. And how many times do I have to say it, I acted out of self-defence. Self-defence!" I yelled.

* * *

At the fifth 'hushed' whisper I heard about my trials in the academy yesterday, I decided that the streets were no longer safe and stomped into the forest to seek refuge. A figure landed beside me. "I'm not in the mood for Uchihas right now, Shisui."

"Oh, so it's Shisui now?"

I glowered at him. "Now that I've had the displeasure of meeting more of your kind, I need something to discern the bad from the worse."

He winced before recovering just as fast to flash a playful smile, "Harsh. I heard you put Wakane into hospital."

"Huh, it has a name. News sure travels fast."

"Well it's to be expected when a Senju pulls all stops to throttle an Uchiha." He teases lightly.

"I was holding back." I seethed.

"I'm sure you were." I almost took this for sarcasm before I sensed the sincerity in his chakra. I shook my head, hiding a smile. This boy would never change. He rested his hands behind his head as we continued our stroll in mild silence.

He eventually broke the peace between us with a revelation. "Wakane won't press any charges."

I snorted. "That's to be expected, he was bested by a little girl and a Senju no less. If he tried to take it up with me, everyone in the goddamn village would know of his defeat." I narrowed my eyes at him, "You Konoha people really like spreading rumours. Hidden Village of the Leaf, more like Hidden Village of Absolutely Nothing."

Shisui let out a low chuckle. "You're doing that thing again, where you language doesn't match your demeanour."

My hand shot straight to my scroll threateningly, "Don't make a repeat of last time. I'll have you know, the accuracy in my throws have only gotten better." To cement my point, I picked up a rock and pitted it through a tree to his right.

He pretended to concede, holding his hands out placatingly as he eyed the hole pierced through the tree. "You make it too much of a habit to victimising our trees."

We reached a crossroad in the path. "But no, it's not a matter of pride. Wakane's in a lot of trouble with the Clan Head right now… Such lowly cowardice is not tolerated in our clan. And it doesn't help our standing in the village's eyes." His tone took a darker turn. "He risked the whole clan's already deteriorating reputation. That's not something to be taken lightly."

I watched him in apprehension as we deviated from the path into a clearing. His fists were clenched at his sides, shaking with anger? Fear? I couldn't even tell if he was speaking on behalf of the clan or Wakane anymore. This Shisui was very different from the one that I had quickly become accustomed to. I realised despite all the time I spent with him, I didn't understand him at all. It seemed as though every time he spoke of his clan, it was with great seriousness and worry beyond his age. It made my stomach crawl.

"Is… is he going to be ok?"

He didn't reply for a long time. "Maybe."

I joined him on the ground, stretching my legs out in front of me and began looking around aimlessly. My eyes caught on the chamomiles that lay a few yards away. I bounded towards the small patch of swaying white petals, lightly tugging them from the ground and wrapping it into a crown expertly. It was something I often did with kaa-chan when had still lived outside Konoha. As I weaved the stems together, I felt a sense of loss and was again reminded of the looming war and the life we had left behind to enter this new world.

I made my way back to Shisui who was watching me curiously. I grinned cheekily and motioned him to stay still, threading the flower crown into his raven tussles. "Do you know what chamomiles represent?"

He shook his head.

"Patience."

* * *

Kakashi had woken up and was struggling with the nurse to be discharged. He had completely blown up into a childish fit when she forbade him to use the chidori rasengan. Uncle and I stood outside in the hallway, wincing as the nurse continued to take Kakashi's snarky jabs with barely controlled fury. Despite being on Kakashi's side on the matter, I was crossing my fingers for this random nurse who was just trying to do her job. Kudos to her for not having beaten Kakashi up already.

"Are you sure you should be just standing here?" I motioned for him to head into the crossfire. "He is your son you know."

"-you must be dull-witted if you think I'm going to take advice from a nurse who hasn't even been in a real battle. Who are you to tell me what I can or can't do when I'm the one fighting for the safety of this village. Last time I checked, this village included you as well, _nurse-san_."

A hand leapt to my mouth as I gasped at his audacity. Despite not even being related to the guy, I felt a strong wave of second hand embarrassment. I covered another hand over my eyes, peering through my fingers to see smoke literally billow out from the nurse's explosive reaction as Kakashi shot her his masterful 'thou art below me' glare. "Oh my g– why is he being like this? Is he on drugs?"

The doctor who had yelled at Minato came by. "I'm afraid he's still recovering from the anaesthetics. It usually causes people to spout nonsense. Although every patient reacts differently to the after effects and unfortunately for Hatake-kun, his after effects are one of a severe lack of impulse control."

"…meaning in that state he's actually the most Kakashi he'll ever be." I finished off in horror. I turned an accusing finger to Uncle, "Did you know that your son was actually like..." I waved my hand at the thing still arguing impudently with the nurse inside the ward, "…like that." I finished lamely.

He rubbed a hand on the back of his head, "No, this is the first I've seen Kakashi that… emotional."

I turned to the doctor, "So when is he going to stop being like that?"

She gave a rueful smile, "I'll give it another 2 hours."

I felt faint. My grudging admiration had all but extinguished.

"Kareha-chan! Sakumo-san!" Kushina came bursting forward with zero regards for the shared hospital space. The incredulous looks from miffed hospital staff were lost on the red head. "Is Kakashi ok?"

Giving a sidewards glance at the room, "I mean, if you call that fine. Sure." I shrugged.

She followed my line of sight and peered into the room and immediately recoiled, pulling a weird face. "Who's the imposter? And where's Kakashi?"

"That is Kakashi." I deadpanned.

She looked like a deer caught in the headlights before bursting into laughter. "No freaking way." She wiped a finger across her lower lashes picking up stray tears, before reading the atmosphere and sobering up immediately. "You're serious." She jabbed a thumb inside the room, "What the hell happened to him?"

The doctor clicked a tongue distastefully at Kushina's language. "Anaesthetics." I offered helpfully.

Her mouth morphed into an 'o' shape. Dropping a fist into her palm she cursed, "Drat, I forgot the present."

"Shishou, I don't think you need to worry about that." I pointed to Minato who was slowly making his way to us, waving a pair of gloves in his hand.

We quickly brought Minato up to speed with our current dilemma and decided to strategically wait out Kakashi's fit. The next two hours, we spent in deep conversation about fuinjutsu. I told Minato of my idea to make a field where the hiraishin could be used limitlessly. We bounced ideas off each other to refine the seal. In between our discussion, Kakashi had drifted back to sleep and woken up again, half an hour later. We approached him cautiously until we verified his return back to 'default Kakashi'.

"Kakashi, do you remember anything?" Minato prodded tentatively.

He shook his head. Everyone almost fell to the floor in relief. Kakashi looked slightly confused but said nothing. Minato coughed, "Right, well the doctors have forbidden the use of the Revolving Thunder Zero Style Chidori Rasengan."

The only sign of his displeasure was the barely noticeable crease between his brows.

"But!" I cut in. "We found a way around that." I bounced on the balls of my feet and gestured for Minato to show Kakashi his present.

He did so, depositing the pair of gloves onto his lap. "Do you like them?"

Kakashi stared bewildered and slowly lifted the cloth to examine it. "Look on the inside." Minato prompted.

He flipped the cloth inside out and traced his fingers across the black squiggles inscribed onto it. "Seals…?"

Kushina pulled his head into her side roughly and laughed, "That's right kid. Minato and Kareha-chan spent a restless day fixing you up that brilliant invention. As long as you wear those, you can channel as much lightening chakra as you want and not feel so much as a tingle."

"You…I- thank you."

I smiled bashfully. "I didn't do much. It was all Minato-san. I'm not good enough to make seals of that calibre." I admitted, gesturing to the gloves he was currently trying on. He closed his hand into a fist experimentally, getting a feel for the material. Sparks of blue light danced around the tips of his fingers. Kakashi seemed taken by the article of clothing, I assumed he was mesmerised by its insulating properties. It must've been a weird sensation to not feel the release of chakra after having been an active ninja for so long.

"This is really convenient…I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"It was all Kareha-chan's idea. Said she didn't want you to lose out on such a valuable jutsu." Kushina intersected.

"Yeh, well Kakashi _is_ the one fighting for the safety of our village after all." I intoned.

The nurse made a strangled noise from behind. Was it amusement or fury? Would we ever find out?

* * *

Kakashi had been discharged from the hospital for a few days now. I on the other hand was still suspended from the academy. Consequently, I had a lot of time on my hands. And with that extra time, I was very diligent with pestering Kakashi and uncle. So much that to achieve my mission, I pretty much lived with the Hatake's.

Eventually Kakashi threw in the towel and upheld the other half of the bet and I was given the chance to unleash my seal. We met in the same training ground that Kakashi had desolated. It was officially declared as the Training Field of Hell. Not because it looked like hell, but because it was short for, 'Do whatever the hell you want'. It still had the severely depressed crater that Kakashi had left in it since the last time we were here. I guess nobody had been forgiving enough to flatten it out for us. It was no matter, it'd probably be more efficient to patch it up after I'd finished anyway.

To save time, I had come prepared with the scroll containing the seal. Rolling out the seal, I fed it some chakra to help peel it off and allowed it to hover in the air. After some tweaks and redesigning, I settled on this hovering version, being omnidirectional it would grant more destruction. We cleared off, distancing ourselves a couple hundred yards away. Another mechanism I installed into the seal – a layer that ensured that long distance would not be a problem as it was powered by uniquely my chakra. On the inside of my palm was the chakra seal connected to the gravity core.

Dropping to the floor, I began meditating, drawing chakra into the seal in waves. The ground beneath me began shuddering as the sound of cracking earth grumbled across the training field. I fed a large pulse of chakra into the seal and immediately, trees were shredded at the roots, flying towards the core.

I heard Kakashi let out a curse and supressed the victorious smirk that was struggling its way onto my face. Releasing the seal on my wrists, I threw all of the stored chakra in also. The effect of which were instantaneous, Kakashi and I were both yanked from where we were standing/sitting, our trajectory set straight for the chakra core. I screamed, as a large tree came shooting towards us like a missile. A hand wrapped around my stomach and a second later, I found the strong pull no longer there. I slowly cracked open an eye and gave Minato a sheepish smile. "That's the first time I've experienced the hiraishin. And I must say, it's as good as I thought it'd be." I then rolled to my side and promptly deposited the contents of my stomach onto ground beside me.

I could tell Minato was at a loss with how to deal with me and pushed aside his exasperation, settling for soothing pats to my back as I retched my gutss from the disorientation. Space time ninjutsu sucked. I didn't even suffer from motion sickness, but gravity pull and then space warping in the opposite direction? Let's just say I didn't need any adrenaline rush for a while to come.

Kakashi wasn't faring so well either. He had gone a sickly green and had perspiration dotted across his forehead. Basically he looked like he was doing everything he could to not unceremoniously reveal what he had for lunch.

I gave a weak snicker. "Who do you think won now, Bakashi."

Kakashi squinted his eyes at me venomously. "You almost got us killed, you little brat."

I laughed, "I only followed the conditions of the bet. We _did_ say whoever had the most destructive jutsu wins."

Minato stepped in with a frown. "That's enough. We're putting an end to these bets. The both of you are forbidden from participating in anymore jutsu creation for the next year. And for the record Kareha, even though you _did_ manage to endanger your lives, the most destructive jutsu still belongs to Kakashi."

I flinched. He had dropped the suffix. Someone was not happy. I surrendered to my punishment in an attempt to win back Minato's favour.

As we headed back to our respective homes I nudged Kakashi playfully, "As a part of freedom of speech, I'm technically still allowed to keep my nicknames. It's just now you can actually try and do something about it." I danced away from his angry grasp. "I doubt you'll be able to though!" I yelled petulantly. He immediately gave chase.

* * *

A/N Eh, tell me what you guys think. Minato's difficult to write and I'm afraid I've made him too OOC. Please halp.


	9. Chapter 9

Trying to hold back the constipated expression that had probably taken over my face, I focused on placing one foot in front of the next, my empty stomach eating itself. Sliding open the door, I peeked in to see that I had thankfully managed to arrive first. A sigh of relief escaped my lips before I was lightly tapped on the shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my skin, swiveling around so fast my neck snapped. Cradling my neck I unleashed my fury upon the culprit, "What the hell Nara?!"

The Nara didn't offer a reply, and made a shooing motion. I realised I was standing in the doorway and moved to the left to allow him though. I narrowed my eyes as he brushed past. "You scared the crap out of me."

He then proceeded to wave a chakra suppressant in my face, drawling. "Clan head's orders."

My eye twitched. "You're all pure evil. Every last one of you."

"He also told me to pass on a message. Said that the deer were waiting to be fed."

I sulked at my desk, eyeing the Nara whose head was tucked into an arm, already beginning to fall asleep. A wicked thought passed me. Standing up, I weaved through the rows and deliberately made a show of it as I sat my butt down beside him. He completely ignored this but I didn't give up. I continued watching him like a hawk, my face an inch from his and channelled as much intent as I could until my interest in his sleeping form physically manifested itself. His shoulders tensed and I gathered he wouldn't be falling back into dreamy land for a while.

"For as long as I'm here, you're not going to sleep a wink, Nara." I purred viciously.

He shuddered, turning his dark grey eyes to meet mine in muted horror. I scoffed back a cackle. That's right Nara, you picked the wrong side to join. Shikaku can't protect you here and we both know that he has no use for ineffective pawns.

As the class filled up, there were hushed whispers thrown around no doubt about me 'beating up' the civilian kids. As soon as Uchiha Wakane entered the classroom, his eyes found mine and he immediately ducked his head and moved to the window seat. I noted that he looked more banged up than when I had left him. A voice droned from beside me. "Wow, not only did you violate the civvies, but the Uchiha too?"

I disappeared into my seat. "It's not my fault. They see me as a challenge. As an opportunity to prove their worth. I'm the victim here."

Nara Jin did not answer. The freshly mentioned 'civvies' had arrived with their parents. I cringed further into the seat. "Kami-sama if you're even up there, please save me."

Once the kids had settled down, a particularly displeased helicopter parent made their way to me quite purposefully. She made quick of the stairs, hiking up her dress into thick bundles and marched up to our desk. One minute she was ready to give me a piece of her mind, and the next she was turned away with a skillful manoeuvre by Yahiro-sensei. It was slightly off putting seeing Yahiro-sensei sporting a _charming_ \- might I even say - _womanizing_ smile. I glanced over to see Jin shuddering in his spot. Whatever it was, it worked, I'll give him that. However, this was my battle to fight.

I stood up, palming the desk indignantly, "Yahiro-sensei, if she has something to say then let her say it. I have nothing to hide and I did nothing wrong. If her nimrod of a son-" I jabbed my index finger in said boy's direction, "-hadn't decide to ambush me with his little flock of cowards then I wouldn't have needed to act out of self-defence." The mother's face had taken on a fearsome eggplant hue. I didn't think rage could induce such a pigment. She tried to cut in when I stomped across her, " _Even if!_ These dumbasses had been on the receiving end of the punches. _Who_ in their right mind would side with a group of 12 year old boys ganging up on someone less than half their age? If anything, I believe they're even more pathetic for whining about their little bruises when they got them served by a little girl."

The woman exploded. "You little brat! Come here!" She roared, throwing herself up the stairs towards me.

Yahiro-sensei then had to 'escort' her out of the room. Her furious shouts could still be heard. "Look at the demon's face! She's not even repentant! She has the image of Satan!"

I gave an annoyed huff and sat back down, angry and spent. Rage was a hideous feeling. Not only did it paint your exterior appearance that way, but it also coloured your insides ugly.

I then noticed the incredulous look the Nara had. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

He gave a rare laugh, shaking his head. "Shikaku-sama told me to memorise every last word you said today and then relay it back to him. I now know why."

I gripped the edge of my seat, forcing a deadly smile that threatened to split my cheeks. "Godfather or not, he's a goner by the end of today or my mother isn't Senju Mitama."

Furumi entered right after and I assumed she passed by the thrashing mother on her way into the academy because she made a beeline for me, demanding an explanation. I gave her a brief rundown of the happenings and decided to omit the derogatory embellishments. Her reaction was even more enraged than mine. She made her way to the civilians, grabbing the two by their collars roughly. "What the hell is wrong with the two of you? Are you proud to get beaten by a small girl? Is that why you had to announce to the whole world and get my friend suspended for a week?!"

The boys whimpered under her sharp, reprimanding tone. The maternal instincts ware kicking in early with Furumi. I shied away from the odd scene, this one would be making a formidable mother.

"Troublesome." Voiced our resident mood dampener.

I shoved him lightly. "I think it's heart-warming." I said, albeit a little grudgingly. Looking around the room I saw no sign of the hyperactive boy I had met on my first day. "Where's Eino?"

Furumi took this chance to settle back beside me. "Eino's been sick." She replied curtly.

Jin frowned but did not dispute this. I gave an unsure nod and accepted the lie.

After the morning spectacle, the rest of the day went by relatively easy. There was some simple chakra control exercises interspersed between chakra theory and before long Yahiro-sensei had assigned some light reading for homework and we were all dismissed.

I had to dawdle behind to wait for the lazy Nara to get off his butt before we headed to the compound. When he finally decided to drag himself away from his makeshift arm pillow, I almost cried with gratitude.

He sticks a hand in his pocket, "Why am I necessary for this trip of yours again?"

I kicked a small pebble off the side of the road. "I don't know how to get there. Duh."

"Haven't you been to the compound already?"

"It was one time. Are you really going to hold that against me?" He quirked an eyebrow at me. I threw up my arms in surrender. "Ok fine. I have a bad sense of direction. Happy?"

There was short pause and a deadpan 'no'. I shrugged, not at all guilty. "You were going home anyway. This is like killing two birds with one stone." I launched another rock off the side of road. "Plus, how great's my company?"

He snorted. "Yeh, it's fantastic."

I beamed, patting him on the shoulder proudly. "I'm glad you think that way."

We continued our way in relative silence until a wild Uchiha pounced on the two of us. "Kareha-chan!"

Said Uchiha flung an arm around my shoulder, digging my head into his side. I scowled, trying to push off his offending appendage. Unfortunately for me, he was relentless in his hold. "…and a friend? Nara Jin, right?"

Jin nods in acknowledgement. "I'm surprised you still remember, seeing we were only in the same class for a week before they booted you off to the graduating class."

Shisui was somewhat apologetic as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. He pointed at himself, "Clan orphan, not much of a choice for kids like me."

Jin nods his head again. "No, I understand. It's a ninja village, what can we expect." I sent the Nara an examining look. Was he _sympathising_ with the Uchiha? I didn't think Naras were capable of such emotions. I crinkled my nose. Boys also spoke weirdly, I couldn't tell if this was a friendly reunion or some kind of backhanded verbal showdown. Either way, it was not my problem. The inconvenience holding me hostage however, was.

"Shisui, let go of me." I wriggled in his grip. The dumb octopus was surprisingly strong.

"I can't."

"And why the hell not?"

"I need a good dose of my good friend Kareha, before I leave for my mission."

I supressed the urge to say 'only friend' and stilled. He then allowed me to shove him away. "Where did you get assigned?"

"Just outside Lightning. I'll be gone for at least a month."

I widened my eyes at him. "That long? What are you doing there? Settling down? Starting a family?"

He chuckled lowly and slapped an annoying hand onto my head. "Something like that."

Crossing my arms in front of me into a 'X', I backed away, "Say no more. You take care of yourself. And save the wedding invitation. I won't be needing it."

He shrugged, nonplussed. "Your loss." He turned and threw us a backwards salute, "See ya, Kareha, Nara."

I frowned. What kind of farewell was that? Unsealing a barrier scroll designed by yours truly, I threw it up a couple of times, testing its weight before launching it at Shisui's head. He seemed to sense something flying at him and swivelled around just in time to catch the scroll in his palms. His eyes searched wildly for the perpetrator and quickly found mine. I gave him a Cheshire grin, and mocked him with an imitation of his salute. "A wedding present." I called.

Nobody beats a Senju when it comes to having the last say.

He sends me an appreciative grin and a more amiable wave before slipping out of sight into the crowd. I seemed to have forgotten Jin who looked miffed at having to wait for our 'troublesome' banter to come to an end. I gave a quiet 'sorry' and gestured for him to go on his way, following closely behind.

As we neared the main house, Nara Yoshino's voice carried out loud and clear. "I don't know how you tricked me into marrying you! I swear that ass of yours is constantly stuck to the couch, you might as well have married _it_ instead!"

Jin cleaned out his ear, glancing off to the side. "We're here." When I didn't move, he sent me shooing motions.

"You're not going to pull that," I deepened my voice, "'this is are far as I can take you' crap, are you?" I crossed my arms across my chest trying to look as unimpressed as possible.

He didn't buy and promptly turned to leave. I flashed in front of him, trying to barricade him with my meagre height and short arms. I shook my head at him warningly. He rolled his eyes and I took that as the ok. Yanking him by the arm, we made quick progress across the yard and burst into the kitchen just as Yoshino was coming down with a frying pan onto godfather. His face remained suitably impassive in face of Yoshino, whose anger was still rampant but his eyes - _his eyes_ \- conveyed the gratitude of a man gifted a signed limited edition Icha Icha novel. I smirked and nodded at him. He knew what to do. There were no free gestures between shinobi. I'd be collecting this debt _real_ soon.

Yoshino immediately retracted her fearsome aura and placed down the pan, wiping her hands down her apron as if murder had not just been about to transpire. "What are you kids here for?"

"We're here to pick up godfather. He said he'd show me the Nara forest when I said I liked deer."

She looked unconvinced and gave me a long hard look before letting it slide. "Well that's good I guess. And whilst you guys are at it, your lazy godfather can also feed the deer."

I clapped my hands together and made my eyes shine like there was no tomorrow. "Really?! We can feed the deer too? Jin-kun has been telling me how fun it was too. He said that if it was ok with godfather, that he'd be able to show me how to do it."

Out of my periphery, I saw Jin adopting a scandalised expression. I had to consciously tilt the sides of my lips down to avoid grinning like a maniac. Shooting Shikaku a meaningful glance, he more or less got what I wanted him to do. Bringing his arms to our backs, he guided us out the kitchen before anyone could say anything more. "Come on kids, let's go entertain Kareha with the deer."

Once we got to the edge of the forest. Deer began emerging through the trees, stalking towards us predatorily. Godfather pulled some weird voodoo magic on one of the deer who I assumed was their 'pack leader'. The deer then approached me with a searching look. I instantly freezed under its unnerving gaze. After a torturous minute, it slowly lowered its head. I looked around bewilderedly. Shikaku nodded at me to follow my intuition. I reached out slowly with a hand and gave the top of its head the lightest touch. It nudged back more vigorously against my palm, making me almost shriek in fear. The deer fiasco from the other day, still fresh in my mind had no doubt scarred me for life. I begrudgingly petted the deer that had probably tried to end my existence with muted contempt. I would exact my revenge another day.

Shikaku handed the two of us buckets full of unidentifiable green matter and promptly left but not before informing Jin of his new found job as deer carer along with me. He turned his mutinous gaze on me. I shrugged, laughing out a 'Clan head's orders' and returned to feeding the little buggers with a pleased smirk.

After successfully roping Jin into feeding deer for the rest of our lives, I was on my merry way to training ground 5 where I had booked an appointment with a somewhat unwilling Kushina to get her to tutor me in the ways of water jutsus. After I found out about her proficiency by stumbling over her ingenious use of the water dragon technique to do the laundry, I had non-stopped pestered her about teaching me. For the first few days, she had been adamant about teaching seals only, but with perseverance and a bit of coercing and some help from Teuchi and Minato, we were back in business. God bless those two men. Hearts of angels, honestly.

I found shishou standing in the middle of the field with her arms crossed looking slightly peeved. Quickly dashing over as to avoid the brunt of her wrath I apologised. "The deer were way more difficult than I thought. It's what I imagine being a mother and trying to change the diapers of a hundred crying babies would be like." I recoiled at the thought of soiled diapers. "But the babies would have antlers and try to bite your clothes and tear off your face." Yeh, on second thought, not that keen about that particular imagery.

Kushina snorted, "So basically you've gotten a part-time job playing zoo keeper."

Putting a finger to my lip, I pondered on that one and bitterly came to the conclusion that at least part-timers were paid. My payment came in free accommodation in the Nara forest - now turned popular hotel destination. Somehow, Jin had pressured me into revealing how I got stuck with doing Shikaku's dirty work. I explained pitifully that it was the only place I could sleep and he took it upon himself to join me in my naps. Which completely defeated the purpose of using the forest as a secluded place away from chakra activity.

"So what are you teaching me today, shishou?"

With a hand on her hip she gave me a bob of the head. "Show me what you can do first."

I nodded. Palm flat towards the sky, I began gathering the water particles from the atmosphere. Nothing happened.

Kushina was quiet from beside me. I avoided her look. Clenching my fists until the nails tore into my skin, I decided to try again. And again. It took a long time, and a lot of energy. I don't remember how long I stood there but I didn't want to disappoint Kushina. I would try as long and as hard as needed until I could get the ball of water larger than a baseball.

Eventually, I managed to hold something akin to a small spiked sphere of water for a couple of seconds before it splashed onto the ground that had been darkened and soaked by all my previous attempts. I yelped out an excited victory shout and began to feel light on my feet. Swaying, I was caught just before tumbling over. I hadn't even realised that shishou had left during my training. She appeared before me, an onigiri and a bottle of water in hand. I accepted them gratefully as she lay down beside me on the grass. The sunlight filtered through the leaves delicately, trickling onto my tired form. There was a nice moment of quiet that was only interrupted by the soft whisperings of the trees.

Kushina, in between munching on her own rice ball asked, "So why do you want to learn water jutsus so badly anyway." I could feel her eyeing me. "It's clearly not your affinity."

I silently nibbled at my food, an uncomfortable heat spreading up my neck. It was one thing having my incompetency acknowledged but a whole other having shishou blatantly calling me out on it.

"I know water manipulation is typically a Senju clan trait but that doesn't mean that you need to go out of your way to master it. A few simple jutsus will do. Drawing moisture from your surroundings? Kareha-chan, that's a fool's errand." I bit my tongue. "You don't attempt those kinds of feats without an affinity. You just don't do it. It's not a ba-"

"-No!"

Kushina paused mid-sentence, eyes wide.

"No." I repeated. "I'm not giving up on this, I can't. Affinities mean nothing. I'm a Senju." I averted my eyes from her searching gaze, staring intently at my opened palms. The ones that couldn't produce a water jutsu even if my life depended on it. _Useless._ Clenching my fists tightly, I squeezed my eyes shut. "If I can't get it by inheritance than I'll get it through hard work. Shishou, if you don't want to help, I more than understand. I can see that it's as frustrating for you as it is for me." A warm hand landed on the top of my head.

"I'm sad that you feel that way Kareha-chan, because it'll be my pleasure to help you learn."

My eyes seared. I blinked back the moisture that had unknowingly gathered. "I don't want to make kaa-chan sad." I whispered. "She keeps calling me her 'little-nidaime'… I just want to be someone she's proud of."

Kushina pressed my head into her side. "I get it. To Minato and I, you're our little hokage too. We've all got our hopes and expectations on you but I guess we never considered the weight of it all. I'm sorry Reha-chan."

I nodded mutely. "Thank you, Kushina-san."

She laughed, "Who would've guessed that Reha-chan was such a cry baby."

"I'm not crying!" I retorted, sniffling noisily.

* * *

"Kareha-channnnnnnnnn!" came a thunderous roar. I clamped down on my ears, shooting an irritated glance at Furumi. She shrugged, looking only slightly sheepish. Then grabbing my arm, she starting jostling me around complaining about the same thing she had moaned about for the past week. "Why won't you come visit my house? We can play games and train and do the stupid readings that Yahiro-sensei assigns us!"

I unhanded her to recompose myself, pulling at my clothes that now sat on me in all sorts of wrongness. "Why do you want me to crash your place that badly? I don't feel comfortable with overstaying my welcome."

"Except when it concerns the Nara compound." Quipped Jin helpfully from the sidelines. I death glared him and he lazily shrunk back into his turtle shell. I clicked my tongue, shows him right.

I then turned back to Furumi, sighing. "I'll see if I can find some time today."

She gave a loud whoop. "Yes, Kareha! Finally! You won't regret it, I swear! We'll have the most fun together!"

"Yey…" I gave my own unenthusiastic cheer.

Somehow, I found myself being half carried, half dragged back to Furumi's place right as class ended. Furumi was shooting off her mouth at rapid speeds, reassuring me that my presence would be most welcomed. "My mum's never at home anyway. So it's just going to be me and you and Raisuke. Raisuke's my cat by the way. He acts like a pubescent teen sometimes so you better watch out. Just make sure when he's in one of his mood swings, to clear out. He bites."

When we finally slowed down and I had two feet firmly planted on the ground, the urge to heave gradually dissipated. I gulped down some much needed air and straightened myself up. We stood in front of a double storied house, quite stark in appearance and cozy in size.

Furumi opened the front door, motioning me to come follow. I did so, shuffling in after her. She suddenly froze, having creaked open the door about halfway and cursed under her breath. Putting a finger to her lips she mouthed, "Mum's home." She then waved at me to copy her movements as she crept past the foyer and attempted to scale the stairs unnoticed.

"Furumi." Came a woman's voice.

She turned her eyes to me in horror. _Busted._ And by a voice that sounded so awfully familiar.

* * *

A/N Sup all! Unfortunately I have some bad news (could be good depending on how much you enjoy this story) but I'm going to start updating a bit sporadically and less often. (it's already started :/) I'm in the midst of re-organising the plot. Originally, when I first wrote this I hadn't planned for such a lengthy story but I can now see that that was a huge mistake. All the reviews have urged me to invest more and more into this story. To all the silent favouriters and followers, your support is noted. ;3 So yeah, I'm still very new to all this (this baby's my first fanfiction!) so I hope you can bear with me. :D


	10. Chapter 10

An imposing silhouette appeared before us. I slowly lifted my gaze to meet the striking cat eyes of Konoha's jounin commander. Harue Rie. _Oh for god's sake._ I had never considered my luck bad, but it seemed as though ever since I set foot into this village, nothing had gone right.

"Kid. I see you've somehow found my house."

Not knowingly and definitely not willingly. I cringed. "Harue-sama."

Furumi looked from me, then to her mother and then back to me. Something must've clicked in her mind because she suddenly shouted. "Kareha, you know my mother?!"

I nodded, all logic escaping my mind. I felt my soul slipping out of my body. "I'm as shocked as you." I managed to say eventually.

"I wouldn't have guessed my daughter made friends with you, Kareha. However there is a sort of hilarity to this turn of fate."

She didn't sound very amused though. I shuffled before her awkwardly. Does she think I intentionally befriended Furumi to get to her? I gulped as her eyes bore down on me.

"Well then! Since you already know each other, Kareha and I will be heading upstairs to do some homework." Furumi grabbed my wrist and we made a dash out of there.

We settled onto her bedroom floor, stunned. "Go figure that you'd already met my mum."

I stared at the blank space behind her desk absentmindedly before turning on her with a glare. "Not only did you not mention your mother was home, but you also didn't mention she was Harue _freakin'_ Rie!"

She held her hands up in surrender. "I honestly didn't know she'd be at home!" she looked down at her feet. "She's mostly never at home." "I didn't want you to get intimidated by her. So I didn't tell you who she was."

I gave a mirthless chuckle. "No wonder why everyone in class is half scared to death of you. Jounin commander's daughter. A fearsome title."

She wilted. "A burdensome title."

We bumped fists. "A toast to that."

We spent the rest of the afternoon making poor progress on our assigned homework in favour of mucking around with playing cards. After losing consecutively for the fifth time I threw down my cards in defeat, stretching my arms behind me. "Well, I'm pooped. How do you manage to keep winning?"

She tried for a mysterious smile. "A magician never reveals their secret."

I rolled my eyes. "You've been cheating."

"Maybe."

I coughed out a laugh and left the room. "I'm going to get some water." I heard a soft 'ok' as I quietly closed the door behind me.

Entering the kitchen I found the commander already sitting there, chin tucked into her linked fingers. She waved a piece of seal paper between her two fingers. "Nifty little parlour trick you've got here." She nodded at me to take a seat. I did so hesitantly. "Now before you get your hopes up kid, just know that you most likely will not be receiving an answer." Her mouth twisted into a grim smile as she gestured for me to speak.

I took in a deep breath. "Is the kunoichi still alive?"

"Next."

"Have you got any leads on the perpetrator?"

"Next."

"What was the item that they were looking for?"

She stared me down, unimpressed. "Look kid, I may have all day but this conversation isn't going anywhere." I knitted my brows, glowering at the floor like a kicked puppy. Her eyes softened slightly. "Whatever you want to know...don't. Your ignorance is the only thing keeping you safe."

I pressed my lips together, swallowing the bad taste in my mouth. "So her death was meaningless."

There was an imperceptible inclination of the head that neither agreed nor disagreed. Her demeanour was completely unapologetic, borderline unfeeling. But then again, why wouldn't it be. Shinobi died all the time. Shinobi were everything if not bountiful, interchangeable, expendable. I'd temporarily forgotten her for what she was. This Harue was not kaa-chan's friend. She was the Jounin Commander, and no stranger to sending soldiers to their deaths. I steeled myself. "Well then I have one more question."

Her eyes glinted. "Go ahead."

"Do you need more information?" Suddenly she was centimetres from my face, displeasure rolling off her in waves. Her chakra was suffocating.

"Kid, did you go against my explicit instructions and involve yourself further in this case?"

"No Commander." I leveled my voice and deliberately met her eyes. A defiant fire lit in my chest. I would avenge the dead kunoichi.

She stared into me for an uncomfortably long time before she blinked and let out a sigh. "Fine, let's hear it. What else have you got to offer?"

I licked my dried lips. "I believe this will be able to cut down on your suspects. On the day, the more powerful of the two. He was a wind user."

"…A wind user, you say? And how do figure that?"

"I'm a chakra sensor. I could tell he had a very strong affinity to wind. I don't know how quite to explain it. But it's like a pattern in chakra and it becomes really obvious what affinity you are in a state of heightened emotion. And that man, he was… very angry."

She was silent in thought for a while before she delivered a swift nod. "Thanks kid, I'll take it from there. If there's anything you remember from that day, please tell me. Other than that, same rule as before. No more involvement."

Thankfully, Furumi came down just at this moment. It saved me from making promises I couldn't keep. "Is everything ok here?"

Harue dismissed her question with a grunt. I gave her a reassuring smile, "Just talking with your mum about her job. It's pretty fascinating."

Furumi gave an unconvinced nod before pulling me over to her side. Her voice wavered with a fearful edge. "Let's get you home now."

"Wait, what?"

She shot me a desperate look. "Don't you have to be home early today? You don't want to be late again, do you?"

My eyes met hers and I nodded. "It's - that's true." I turned to Harue. "Thanks for having me commander." I touched a hand to my forehead in a mocking salute before being forced out the door by Furumi.

When we had cleared far enough from her house I ripped my hand from her painful grasp. "Did something possess you?"

She brought a hand to her elbow, avoiding my searching look. "What did she say to you?"

I frowned. "What do you mean? She was just telling me about her job." I gave her an odd look. "We weren't lying to you." Being surrounded by licensed deceivers, you tend to pick up a thing or two.

She watched me for a long time before sighing. "Look, it wouldn't be the first time my mum lied to me." She took a seat on a park bench, swinging her legs against the dirt ground. I joined to sit beside her. "She's not your typical housewife mother. She doesn't bake cookies, or press flowers, or practice tea ceremonies... hell she's never home half the time."

We watched as a little boy ran pass us, chasing a ball with his parents in tow, laughing as they ran after him.

She huffed. "She's not a very good mother and I'm not her real daughter."

I stilled but said nothing. Something told me Furumi was not adopted out of the sweet kindness of Harue's child-weak heart. What a melodramatic turn of events. Jiraiya would have a kick recycling this into one of his sick excuses of a book. If he hadn't already.

"I think I was about your age when I was adopted. She found me as a young orphan, off the borders of the Wind Country. I'd travelled quite a distance and escaped from some bandits. I was half dead by the time her team got to me. That was what I've been told anyway."

I side glanced at her.

She wore a bitter smile. "You see, I don't actually remember anything before waking up in a Konoha hospital bed."

My mind reeled with all the things she was hinting at. "You think Harue-sama wiped your memories."

She shook her head. "I know." She looked over at me. "They weren't very discreet about it, the nurses. Heard them gossiping when they thought I was asleep." Her fists were clenched at her sides.

"Did you ever find out why they would do such a thing?"

"My abilities probably."

"You have a kekkei genkai?" This was a surprising development. Although it would explain Konoha's interest in her.

She pulled her shirt aside to reveal a seal emblazed across her shoulder. At my look of understanding, she exchanged a rueful smile. "Yeah, afraid I'm not really in a position to say much." She leaned back against the seat, throwing her arms behind her head. "My mother only has one mode, no matter how much she tries to hide it or pretend otherwise. Jounin Commander. Shinobi. She's Konoha's Harue Rie first and foremost. Seeing as I've lived with her almost my whole life, I can safely tell you she's not above manipulating children." She gestured to herself as if to say 'look at me, I'm a perfect example'.

I gave a slow nod.

She made a big show of shrugging her shoulders and stood up, patting herself off. Extending her hand, we participated in a handshake. I believe it was a show of trust and the best way of conveying her friendship for me. I felt oddly solemn as I watched her stalking off, into the village that likely wasn't even hers, back to the woman that wasn't her real mother.

* * *

"We're going on a trip, Kareha-chan!" a hyper, over-enthusiastic shishou sang. I opened a bleary eye to glance at the red head currently hanging off my window, face just peeping past the ledge. Her excited grin had a hint of mischief. She began cackling. Scratch 'a hint', I shivered as a sense of apprehension travelled down my spine. I shrugged myself back into the warm cocoon, not unlike a tortoise seeking refuge in its shell. I heard Kushina click her tongue playfully. Suddenly, all warmth and life left me as the blanket – my only lifeline, ripped viciously away. I wrapped my arms pitifully around my body as the demon red head wagged a forefinger in my face. "Nu-uh. We've having fun. _And_ I'm serious this time."

Oh right. The previous 'trips' I got cajoled into ended up with many unlikely enemies made and a horde of angry anbu hot on our heels. I'll spare the details but it was safe to say that Konoha unanimously bar Kushina did not find it ' _fun_ '. Despite the high stress levels that the situation demanded - me being me - I still managed to drop Shisui's name as the perpetrator. It was something we liked to call the name blame game. Any atrocious deed one committed would be pooled onto the other and there would be no hard feelings. I believe I had the upper hand, what with Kushina dragging me all over the village constantly and me hollering like a broken record 'The name's Shisui. UCHIHA SHISUI! REMEMBER IT YOU DIMWITS!'

At her tenth minute of incessant nagging, I groaned, flailing in my bed like a fish out of water. "Not. A. Morning. Person."

She snatched my limp body up. "No problem. Shishou can fix that. Now let's gooo!"

Moments later, my eyes were drooping as I sat on a bar stool that had been specifically designed to accommodate my height. In my drunken sleepiness, I unwittingly sent some food catapulting and kitchen tools missing. After putting out the fifth fire, Kushina decided her stubbornness could no longer hold its own against my own impressive catastrophic presence when in a kitchen paired with severe sleep deprivation. If I had enough energy, I'd fist the air in triumph. But alas, all I could do at this moment was snuggle into Minato's side and wait for the other side to completely consume me. My last thought wasn't particularly tasteful. _Flaky-san_ _smelt like sunshine._

My nose twitched to the smell of something mouth-watering. Stretching out my arms behind me I let out a massive yawn and staggered into the kitchen. On the bench were bento boxes stacked mountain high and a red head observing her tower with great pride. She noticed me and cracked a wide grin. "You're finally up. You were giving Minato a very hard time this morning – dattebane."

I quirked a questioning eyebrow. That's weird. "I am told that I'm pretty good in bed."

Kushina coughed the wrong way and started watering at the eyes. "Did your kaa-chan say that to you?" she finally gasped.

"Of course. Who else would it be?" I supplied simply. "Are you ok?" I eyed shishou who was presently thumping her chest and wheezing like an old man on his deathbed.

She downed a cup of water and sighed. "I'm fine." She gasped.

I scrutinised her face suspiciously and folded my arms across my chest, "You don't believe me. I can swear to all my ancestors - especially Hashirama-sama - that I'm an incredible sleeping companion."

She turned red again, her complexion rivalling the roots of her flaming crimson hair. "N-no, it was just a joke, Kareha-chan!" she let out a deep breath and began mushing my cheeks between her palms. "Minato was just saying you were so adorable sleeping that he almost didn't want to go meet his team."

I let out a quiet 'oh'. "Well you can let him know that he was really nice sleeping with too."

"We're actually going to see him now." Her eyes gleamed something dangerous. "Why don't you tell that to him yourself?"

I shrugged. What was the big deal? "Sure."

I exited the house first, watching Kushina as she heaved the stack of bento boxes and sealed it into a trusty storage tag and followed me out, tucking the door close with a foot. "So where can we find this Team 7?"

She touched a thoughtful forefinger to her chin. "I think they've been relocated to the training field you and Kakashi trashed."

I blanched at the reminder. "My bad."

She absent-mindedly waved a hand. "Don't take it to heart. Minato actually offered to use that training field. Said it'd be useful for further experimentation and whatnot. So if you think about it, you guys completely obliterating the place was actually a blessing in disguise!"

Tugging a piece of hair out of my face, I nodded somewhat unconvinced. Shishou sure had a roundabout way of comforting people.

Soon, sounds of metal clashing against metal was heard as we arrived at the edge of the artificially created clearing. My eyes bulged as Kakashi got thrown onto his ass by the blonde jounin. Minato's movements were sharp and unpredictable as he lashed out at incredible speeds. And this was all done without the assistance of his hiraishin. He battled the other two students simultaneously, sending a goggled idiot who tried to creep behind him, sailing into a tree. The only kunoichi on the team was providing meaningless support, flinging shuriken that couldn't possibly hit its intended target. Although the goggled idiot seemed to enjoy taking them in the back in his sensei's stead. Not a minute later, all three were sprawled across the ground, out of commission. Minato looked up to catch Kushina's cheeky grin and my small wave. A cheesy smile bloomed across his own face before he bent down to say something to his students. He then pointed behind them at us two whom they immediately recognised as bearers of food and their much needed salvation. Whilst Kakashi was brushing the dirt from his clothes, I ricocheted towards him, throwing my arms around his neck. "Bakashi! How dare you get toyed around so easily by Minato-san?! Uncle would be ashamed. Ashamed!"

He grunted, trying to shake me off. "I'd like to see you try and take on sensei."

I adopted a maniacal grin, "…Is that a bet?"

Unfortunately, Minato had still been within earshot at that moment and forcibly dragged the two of us by the scruff of our necks to the picnic blanket that Kushina had laid out. The brunette was talking animatedly with shishou and the goggled idiot had already powered through his second bento. I finally understood the need for the copious amount of food shishou prepared this morning.

Kushina pulled me down beside her and clapped her hands excitedly. "Team 7, this is my favourite cutest student, Kareha-chan!" she pointed at the brunette with the cropped hair and the goggled idiot. "That's Rin-chan and that's-"

"-Uchiha Obito." I concluded for her, a glower piercing said boy.

He looked bewildered and slightly scared at my obvious and not so positive recognition of him. He shrunk under my glare. Kakashi paused in his meal to analyse the awkward atmosphere that had settled between the two of us. "How do you know the idiot?"

Before Obito could throw a hissy fit and start yelling at Kakashi I began regaling the story of when I first discovered the existence of the goggled idiot. "A few weeks ago, I was introduced to the best thing that ever happened to me, the love of my life, my soul mate..." - "Just get on with it." I slapped Kakashi over the shoulder. - "Uruchi-sama's senbei. Fast forward a few days, I was in a terrible mood and so happened to pass into the Uchiha district. Uruchi-sama saw my blatant distress and offered me free nori senbei. Instantly I was content once more and world peace had been restored. Until this-" I jabbed a thumb at the dumbfounded Uchiha, "-goggled idiot tripped over his own feet and planted his idiotic face into my food."

Obito leapt up to his feet, a hand touching the side of his face, "So you were the brat that beat me up!"

I smirked, eying the place his hand was currently cradling pathetically. For pulling his little stunt he was gifted a pretty little shoe print by yours truly. "You shouldn't have touched what you couldn't afford."

"You just said that it was free!"

I clicked my tongue. "Like I said, don't touch what you can't afford." Kakashi snorted appreciatively in the background.

"Oi! You brat!"

Before the situation could escalate any further, Minato's hand dropped onto both our shoulders, placating. "I'm sure it was all just a misunderstanding. Let's just eat up for now, alright?"

I gave a petulant pout and turned my head away. The goggled idiot did the same, folding his arms across his chest. Minato let out sigh and gave up. I cupped a hand to Kakashi's ear, "I feel sorry that you have someone like him on your team."

He shot the oblivious Uchiha a smug look. "Tell me about it."

I could feel a frown directed at me and turned to see the brunette, her expressions pinched with worry. "Rin-san, is there something wrong?"

She shook her head and faked a smile. "Of course. You and Kakashi-kun seem quite close."

I grinned. "That's because he's my Kashi-nii. I'm his precious sister."

Kakashi made a disgruntled noise of denial in the back of his throat. A small look of relief dawned on Rin's face and she beamed genuinely. "He must be very lucky to have you for a sister."

Flipping some hair over my shoulder theatrically, I sniffed, " _Obviously."_

Obito muttered something under his breath that sounded distinctly like 'hideous brat'. Without sparing him a glance, I toppled over his bento with a small gust of wind. He squawked indignantly but didn't dare do anything as shishou's murderous aura flooded the clearing. I hid a smug smirk behind a pair of chopsticks.

I bit into an omelette piece. "Oh and before I forget Minato-san, shishou wanted me to tell you that you're very competent in bed."

* * *

A/N And that wraps things up, folks! Oh Kareha, how you bully Naruto's parents so. And I absolutely love the old couple that own the Uchiha Senbei. They really do exist by the way and hopefully you'll be seeing a lot more of them. Gosh I just want to cuddle them so much. :3

Welp! I'm back after almost a month, sorry guys! Thanks to the reviewers who've brought me back.

 **GinaRogers** Great minds really do think alike. I had this idea cooking in my head for a while and when I couldn't find it, I just decided to write it myself. I'm so glad it's met your expectations! P.S Shisui will be back _very_ soon.

 **bookdragonslayer** Thanks for your enthusiasm. I reckon you could hazard a guess as to her affinity. ;)


	11. Chapter 11

During the last month, I had been bored out of my mind. No amount of Minato's personal seal work nor Kushina's priceless scrolls could appease my constant state of boredom. Academy was same as always; Furumi's constant bickering with the male populace and Jin's deliberate ignorance to all things around him. Eino was still MIA, nobody cared enough to question his absence and those who did were met with unsubtle topic changes. Deer feeding was the same as always; troublesome but more bearable with a companion to suffer through with.

In light of this, I had become thoroughly invested in a new hobby – stress relief via one goggled idiot. Stifling a scoff, I reminisced the last prank Kakashi and I pulled on the witless Uchiha. He had been regrettably late to a training session with Team 7 that I just so happened to tag along on. Being the helpful angel that I was, I located his chakra still lazing in bed. Kakashi and I were very forthcoming with initiating Operation Fetch the Uchiha. We snuck into his room, Kakashi dumping a bucket of ice water over his head and me supplying a healthy gust of wind. He sprung out of bed squealing before screaming bloody murder as he slipped on the wet floors, successfully knocking himself out. Needless to say, our prank yielded results that were more unconstructive than beneficial.

"Brat, your presence is becoming increasingly frequent and irritating."

I stuck a tongue out at the old man, waving my half-bitten senbei in his face. "I'm the one single-handedly footing your medical bills, you shrivelled bat."

He smacked the back of my head with the end of his broom. "Snarky brat. I'll have you know, your patronage is expendable. You know our motto; we rely on nobody but everyone relies on us-"

His wife, the beautiful and wonderful Uruchi-sama walked out with freshly made senbei, "-because we're here no matter sunshine or rain. We're The Uchiha Senbei!" She smacked a good one on old Teyaki's cheek who began grinning like a madman.

I rolled my eyes, munching into the rice cracker with great vigour. Despite his prickly demeanour, the old man was also nothing more than a putty in Uruchi-sama's hands.

"Kareha-chan, has my dearest been bothering you again?" her soft brown eyes crinkled as she smiled.

I threw the old man a smirk before beaming at her. "Nothing I'm not used to, Uruchi-sama!"

"Mou, Kareha-chan. I've told you time and time again to just call me baa-chan!"

"No can do, Uruchi-sama. You deserve too much respect for that to ever happen."

"And yet, I'm just a 'shrivelled bat'." Old man Teyaki grumbled in the background.

"But you're _my_ shrivelled bat, dearest." He melted immediately. I coughed into my hand conspicuously.

"So where's the other brat? I'm guessing that's why you keep moping about the Uchiha district?"

I wrapped my arms around Uruchi-sama defensively. "I'm only here for Uruchi-sama!" I retorted.

He raised an eyebrow in distrust. "Is that so? Well does it mean anything to you that I saw the brat come home early this morning?"

I almost dropped the precious cracker I was holding. Silence as the Uchiha couple watched me carefully. Blinking out of my reverie I yelled, "You should've said something earlier, you old bat!" Pushing the rest of the cracker into my mouth, I brushed myself off hurriedly.

"Where are you rushing off to? I thought you were only here for my wife?"

"I was!" I replied hotly. "But money doesn't fall out of the sky. Someone has to work for your hospital bills." I dropped some coins into the old man's lap with a cheeky grin and darted off.

"Tell him to come visit soon! I'm getting anxious holding his tabs!"

Pivoting around, I gave him a salute and blew Uruchi-sama a kiss.

I flung open Shisui's door revealing him in the state of unpacking. His eyes widened at my boisterous entrance but a smile gradually made its way onto his face. I laughed loudly and pounced on him, arms swinging around his neck. "Hey stupid, I haven't seen you in aaaages. Did you bring a Lady Uchiha home?"

"Unfortunately no."

"Disappointing but not wholly unexpected. Your wooing skills are subpar." I grinned. "How was the mission?"

He tensed in my embrace, arms circling me tightly. "Shisui?" Trying to get a good look at his face, I attempted to wriggle out of his iron hold but he wouldn't have any of it. Perhaps I'd underestimated how much my godly presence had been missed. I drooped in his hold, patting his back awkwardly.

He took a shuddering breath. "Not good, Kareha. Not good." He croaked finally. I felt his face press into my hair and a wetness seep into my locks. My heart dropped to my stomach. I gently wrestled his arms away from where they were caging me in. His eyes were clenched shut, tears flowing freely down his face.

I looked him up and down and didn't find anything more than surface injuries. His hands were clutched at his face as he shuddered violently. "Where are you in pain?" His lips were pressed together, muffling his words. Threading fingers through my hair frustratedly, I took his hands in mine forcefully, flowing my sensory chakra into his system, "You're a bit depleted but the coils are absolutely fine… stronger even." He groaned. "I can't help if you don't talk to me. Shisui, please say something." His fists began bleeding where his nails bit into skin. I kept ebbing calming chakra through his coils, just like how I remembered kaa-chan would do for me when I was distressed or upset.

Eventually the convulsions that wracked his shoulders subsided. Hesitantly, I raised a hand to touch the side of his face. "Shisui, look at me."

He tilted his head upwards, eyes opening heavily. Blood red orbs blinked into existence. A four point pinwheel spun lazily at its centre.

I watched with morbid fascination, whispering lowly, "Are you trying to put me under genjutsu? Cause I think it's working."

He choked out a strangled sound caught in between a cough and a laugh. "You're seeing the-" he paused, the words stuck in his throat. He began again. "I'm showing you the mangekyou sharingan."

I pulled back my hand as if burnt. "You…"

His stare flashed to meet mine, cautiously, waiting for judgement. "I killed someone." He attempted a wry smile but it came out all too wrong and – _dead_. "I killed someone." He repeated, face contorting in pain and anger at himself.

I pushed him playfully at the shoulder, trying to diffuse the tension. "We're shinobi, killing people is sort of in the job description." My hand went out to him but he pushed it away from him fiercely.

He clutched at his still activated eyes, in agony. "I killed my best friend."

I sucked in air through my teeth sharply, lowering my glare on him in disbelief. If this was some sort of sick joke, I did not appreciate it. An unexplainable fury took hold of my innards, twisting them with piercing deftness. "Shisui." There was an odd calmness in my voice that didn't reflect my feelings at all. "Do you know what you're saying right now?"

"He- he was so close. My hand… I could've reached out to him – should've reached out to him." He sunk to the ground, hand gripping at his shirt, positioned right across where his heart should be. "But I didn't."

I frowned, then quietly. "…Why?"

A rueful smile. "Because he was always ahead of me. In the academy, all I could do was stare at his back as he ran further, hit harder, learnt faster. I was scared and jealous and at that moment when they were pulling me out of the hole, I couldn't bring myself to hold out my hand. I hesitated. He paid the price."

"I don't believe you." I stood up, shaking my head. "It's just a misunderstanding. The Shisui I know wouldn't shy away from helping others. Especially not for something as unreasonable and-and… petty as envy."

He looked visibly hurt, his hair shadowing his eyes making him completely unreadable. "Well you clearly don't know me." he stated lowly. "I'm capable of _petty_ emotions just as much as the next person. I'm sorry if I gave you the impression of otherwise."

I watched him in disbelief. "You don't mean that."

"You should leave."

I did.

He didn't follow.

"Kareha-chan! Guess what?"

I granted her a disinterested glance. She smoshed my cheeks together in response. "Oh lighten up, why are you in such a dump these days? One moody kid is enough, we don't need a second Kakashi."

I nodded distractedly.

Kushina rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just letting you know, your awesome shishou referred you to the sealing department. You start your apprenticeship this week." She put a thoughtful finger to her bottom lip. "I think it was something to do with security barrier seal maintenance." "Any who, it's going to be fun!"

Had she said something? I shook my head, clearing out my noisy thoughts. Packing up my brushes, I threw them into a satchel and slung that over a shoulder. "I'll see you later, shishou."

Wandering down the streets unseeingly, I picked up on a chakra signature belonging to Shisui. He was three streets over to left from my current position. I didn't dare reach out. I didn't care for his feelings, he certainly didn't mind mine. I turned a sharp right, shuffling into the crowds and squeezed out of the sea of shoppers into an alley. Squatting against the dirty wall, arms drawing close around my elbows. My breath came out in deep heaves. And I wasn't sure if it was from struggling through the stream of people or… I exhaled.

I'd like to think Uchiha Shisui as a friend. Grudgingly at first, because he seemed too perfect in everything he did despite doing it alone. He was too simple in terms of how he treated people, I hated that. Over time, I've become accustomed to his sincere approach to life and his emotional sensitivity not unlike my own chakra perception.

And then I realised he had long ingrained himself into my life. From the very moment I called him out and he revealed himself sheepishly from his hiding spot. He was my first friend.

A confidant, a partner in crime, someone who was always there and knew what to say or do. A best friend.

He had been my best friend.

In the dark recesses of my mind, I acknowledged that this was a one way street. He had another best friend. One that he had given up in the blink of an eye. It was no wonder that I – who couldn't even hold a candle to that title– had been pushed aside so easily. " _You should leave."_ Get out. I'd prefer it if he had put it to me that way. At least it would've sounded less of a suggestion, more intimate.

"Not like that hime, you've got to take the overhang of the shoot and tear it gently down the side." he demonstrated on the snow pea, "That way you don't end up ripping the whole thing into an uncookable mess." Expecting no answer, he gently tugged the mutilated pea from my fingers and tended to it himself.

"Hime, you came over asking me to teach you how to cook. But you're not even here." A hand passed across my front.

I blinked. "What?"

Sakumo sighed, getting up to pour some tea into a cup and then offering it to my preoccupied self. I accepted it quietly, sighing as the steam billowed across my visage. "Where's Kakashi?" I murmured.

He appeared slightly taken aback but answered in a measured tone. "Mission, I would think."

My expression immediately soured.

He laughed at my childish reaction, "What? Am I not enough for you anymore?"

"Are you volunteering to substitute him?" I raised an eyebrow. Everyone knew Kakashi-nii was just my glorified stress reliever, along with his goggled idiot of a teammate. Annoying the two of them brought endless amusement to everyone in the vicinity. I was honestly doing everyone a favour. Although most of the time it was just Kakashi and I ganging up on the Uchiha.

"So I haven't seen Shisui for a while. Where did you say he was again? Mission?"

I tossed my back onto the ground, lying there motionless. "Why is everyone so interested in the Uchiha?"

"I see he's been demoted. Did you guys get into a fight?"

The ceiling was suddenly very fascinating.

"Hime, you can talk to me."

He kept quiet, waiting for me patiently just like I had for him when he was going through a tough time. I sighed, rolling onto my side and curling up. I began quietly, "Under what circumstances, would you let a teammate die?"

"None." His reply was swift and painfully simple.

I let a rueful smile grace my lips. "Dumb question to ask."

"Not for many. Most shinobi would have a hard time answering that. My old shishou had a very interesting way of seeing the world. He always said that 'Death was just another teammate that accompanied you on every mission. You eventually become more acquainted with him the more missions you go on.'" I watched him carefully from my periphery. "I believe that every death has a series of choices leading up to it. If you make those choices, then you have to bare that for the rest of your life." He adopted a faraway look in his eyes. "To live the rest of your days knowing that their blood was on your hands…I think that would be more painful than failing a mission or carrying out a mission in the name of greater good. _That's_ why I didn't let them die."

"It'd be more painful…" Shisui was probably hurting. _So was I._ He lost his best friend. And the blood was on his hands. _He could do the same to me._ He'd learn from his mistake. He would never let that happen again. _Wouldn't he?_

"There's no right answer. Living life in grey is what it means to be human. You make mistakes more often than not. The consequences are severe as a shinobi," he chuckles, "but tend to be long-lasting lessons. That's why experience is so important in this line of work. The job description contains so many variables and is ever changing. The only thing that's consistent are the friends and family that choose to stick by you."

I felt his expectant gaze on me. I pushed my chin into my chest. "You're wrong. People change the easiest."

But Shisui didn't really change did he? He was the same as always, only I had mistaken him for something he was not. _"Well you clearly don't know me."_ I admit it, I don't.

"Senpai!" Kaa-chan let herself in like she owned the place, practiced ease in her gait. "Dinner tonight! On me!" She spied me curled up on the floor before inconspicuously tossing her head in my direction questioningly. Sakumo gave a shake of the head. Kaa-chan slumped forwards and then found herself crouching before me. She wrestled me into a sitting position and pulled me onto her lap. Pulling her fingers through my hair she sighed deeply. "Kaa-chan had her fair share of boy problems back in her day too. In fact you're looking at one of the biggest problems right now."

Uncle groaned inaudibly. His exasperation was in vain, he had nothing on kaa-chan's tenacity for teasing him. There was no way she was letting this opportunity slip out of her grasp.

"Do you want to know what I learnt from all those years of heartbreak?"

I shuffled in her hold to peek up at her. She returned my interest with a soft smile. Sticking up two fingers she counted down. "Communication and perseverance." She elaborated. "See, with your uncle, I never stopped trying. No matter how many times he ignored me or refuted my undying love. And I didn't stop talking to him either, even if he'd turn me down. Because communication is the only way to understand someone."

I sweat dropped. So basically she stalked the living daylights out of the man. "That's kind of shameless of you kaa-chan." I stated dryly. "You should've just backed off when uncle refused to let you call him senpai. I read in a book that that's the first and most obvious sign that a guy's not interested. Males love being crowed at by younger girls."

I got bopped on the head. I pouted, rubbing the rising bump. "It's true! You were just third wheeling Kakashi's mum!"

She twitched an eyebrow. "I didn't realise you enjoyed the boot camp that much." I zipped my mouth smartly. "And why would you be reading these book in the first place? Where'd you get them?"

I shrugged. "Jiraiya."

Incensed, she let out a demonic flare of chakra. "That lecherous geezer! I should've known those books couldn't have all been for educational purposes."

"Actually, I found them all pretty educational."

"Jiraiya's a dead man."

So perhaps I had just unintentionally sent the most deadly assassin after my literary benefactor. But seeing as he already had one foot in the grave from all his daring womanly pursuits, I couldn't really shoulder all the blame. If he came back as a ghost, I would argue that it was unpremeditated, he had it coming anyway.

Uncle, ever the voice of reason tried calming her down. "Jiraiya's intentions weren't harmful. It's not like Kareha's been corrupted. They're just books on social cues and lessons on charisma."

Kaa-chan turned her savagery to uncle who immediately cringed at his mistake. "Senpai! You knew my impressionable daughter was reading these dishonourable books and you did nothing to stop it?! How could you?!" She cried in indignation.

He massaged the bridge of his nose, backing away simultaneously. "Mitama, please. You're overreacting."

I sucked in a breath. Uncle had just blew it. Nobody in their right mind would tell a woman that they were overreacting. Of course uncle was not in his right mind, in his panic, he had committed one of the worst sins mankind would witness. Kaa-chan's wrath had been unleashed.

The next hour had been a traumatising experience for the both of us. I being physically attached to a rampaging Senju suffered harsh consequences. However, this was nothing on Uncle Sakumo who was nursing an incredibly sore body. Kaa-chan had chosen to have mercy on his face, saying something about it being a shame to ruin perfection even if said perfection deserved it.

"I'm going to bar all the dessert stores from accepting you, senpai. You'll never taste another grain of sugar as long as I'm alive." She harrumphed and turned her head.

All Uncle could do was gape in muted horror. She had just threatened the very thing that kept Uncle sane and functioning. I kept quiet. I at least had some semblance of self-preservation. With nothing else to possibly ruin Uncle with, Kaa-chan stood up and pulled me with her. She gave Sakumo one last poisonous glare before slamming the door behind.

As we walked the way back home, I was reminded of the first day we arrived at this exuberant village with all its quirk and interesting inhabitants. I haven't yet decided whether leaving everything behind was worth it, but I don't think I'd exchange the past few months for anything. I tugged on kaa-chan's sleeve lightly. "Thank you."

She looked down to grant me an ear splitting beam. Her eyes lit up with compassion and unadulterated love. "Anything for you, Kareha. Anything."

A brief smile tugged at my lips. "Though you really shouldn't scare Uncle like that. He's an empty shell without sugar."

* * *

A/N A moment of silence for our favourite Uchiha.

Hiya kiddos, I'm back. Things are pretty fire at school right now and will most likely continue to be for the rest of the year so expect some pretty inconsistent updates. I will try my best with this story, please hang in there with me. :)


	12. Chapter 12

"You're not pulling your weight here." I shot Jin a dirty look as he propped himself comfortably against a tree.

"You're doing an amazing job." He returned indifferently.

"I didn't realise you could see with your eyes permanently shut. Who died and made you a Hyuuga?" I gingerly held out a hand of green matter and shuddered when I felt the deer eating from it. These beasts were calm now, but I could never erase the image of the horde of them trying to pull me apart limb by limb. I had followed a misguided notion that deer led a strictly vegetarian lifestyle. Clearly – if my fear of them amounted to anything – they could just as easily turn carnivorous if they pleased.

I caught the smug lilt of his lips as he bathed in the sun whilst I slaved away pampering the spawns of Satan. I shared a look with the spawn I was currently feeding and we seemed to exchange a certain understanding, a magical moment of comradery between beast and human. I strode over to the lazing Nara and promptly upturned a bucket of deer feed on his head. His eyes shot open and his arms flailed at the sudden unwelcome intrusion of green matter. The remaining deer immediately took to the boy and started none to gently badgering him for food.

I gave a short bark of laughter as he stood up, attempting to brush himself off so he could haul ass out of there. However he ended up getting unceremoniously nudged back onto his butt as the deer fed off him.

Jin narrowed his eyes furiously at me when he finally managed to untangle himself out of protruding antlers and prodding snouts. I held out a mocking hand to introduce my partner in crime who was leisurely strolling beside the two of us. "This is my business partner, Karma."

He gave me a look that was caught between incredulous and unimpressed. "You named a deer Karma?"

Karma snorted softly raising her tail behind her. I nodded from beside her, her sentiments having been conveyed perfectly. I smacked Jin across the arm. "She resents that. She thinks Karma is a brilliant name."

"What happened to having deer-phobia?"

"I've had to sacrifice things to overcome the greater evil – you."

He made a harsh sound at the back of his throat. "That was uncalled for."

"You mean my act of genius, or me referring to you as the greater evil?"

"Both." He deadpanned, unamused.

I gave him an unapologetic grin. "You should've helped when I gave you the chance. Karma got you good."

"Har har." His hands went to the default position folded behind the back of his head as silence lapsed between us.

Karma stopped at the edge of the forest, unwilling to accompany us any further. She stares right into my eyes for a moment and retreats back into the dense trees.

"Will you spit it out already?" Jin had been meaning to say something for the past five minutes, opening his mouth just to shut it again. I decided to help speed up the process before I grew white hairs.

He sent me a bewildered look as if I had achieved an incredible feat by noticing him stumbling over his words like a newborn. Yes, I have my fair share of blonde moments but this was just a new low. "Well, what is it?" I tapped my foot against the floor impatiently.

He began slowly, "Listen, Furumi and I…"

I held a hand up to silence him, the other going to my mouth to keep my overzealous gag reflex at bay. "I don't want to know." I groaned, feeling my stomach turn on itself. "You're entitled to your privacy and I'm entitled to keeping the contents of my stomach where it should be."

He turned a ghastly white. "Wait-"

"-No need to explain. It's fine. I'm fine." Deep breaths. "Even though I really expected Eino and Furumi to get together – they quarrel like an old married couple –" I frowned muttering under my breath, "but you swooped in for the bird when nobody took notice." I brought my hand across his face and made a 'swoosh' sound. "Very Nara of you. I wish you all the best, she's a real handful. And don't get me started on her mum. Just- just don't get overly comfortable with each other around Eino and I. We really do value you as friends, but making a public exhibition of your love for each other is where we draw the line." I sliced through the air sharply to make a point, taking a huge gulp of air.

"Are you finished?"

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "…Yes?"

"If you would've let me finish speaking, I was going to say Furumi and I are graduating."

I blanched. Oops, wrong conclusion. "You…what now?"

He trained his eyes on something over my shoulder, heaving a sigh. "We're getting placed on a genin team next week." He dragged a hand through his hair, sporting a rueful smile. "I'm surprised they actually waited this long to boot us out of the academy."

"No." I said firmly. "You guys are just children." Jin was only ten and Furumi was barely eleven. They're sending children to war. "I can talk to Shikaku, he'll pull you out. I swear I won't let the two of you graduate."

He dropped a hand on my shoulder. "Don't do that." His voice was almost inaudible. "We're both glad to finally get out babysitting. We're some of the oldest kids in that class after all." The tendrils of his chakra unfurled, resigned.

"That's not fair." I ran to hug him around the middle. It was my first time noticing that I only reached to his chest.

His arms drew around me hesitatingly. "Shinobi life isn't fair. Take care of Eino for us."

"Why isn't Eino leaving with the two of you?"

"He's just not as awesome as us."

He yelped as I gave his shin a good kick.

* * *

The class felt odd. It was disturbingly empty and Yahiro was absent. The man had a knack for creating the atmosphere, even if it was not appreciated. An older genin who had no idea what he was doing replaced him for the day. Our class was surprisingly tame in light of this but it was understandable, what with the troublemakers having left. All the older kids, including the stuck-up Uchiha and his civilian lackeys had graduated leaving only half our original class remaining. Taiga, my very first fan, I say this sarcastically, was uncharacteristically quiet today. He was amongst the few older kids who hadn't graduated. I sat next to Eino quietly. His usual exuberance was lost today. I chalked it up to having his two best friends graduating before him. He was slightly younger than Jin, he probably didn't make the cut then.

"Are you ok?" Of course he wasn't. His chakra gave a weak flare in response.

He attempted a smile, it came out more like a grimace. "I'm fine." He was thinner, complexion pale and sickly.

"You didn't show up at the academy for the past two weeks. The others said you were ill?"

His eyes rounded at this. He shook his head. "My parents died."

"Eino… I'm sorry."

"You couldn't have known."

I hesitated a little before asking. "What happened?"

"My parents were merchants, they were transporting goods to the outskirts of the Fire Nation. Konoha being shorthanded with shinobi, deemed it safe enough for them to go without escort. Bandits got to them."

* * *

I hugged my knees against my chest, waiting for kaa-chan to return home. She was presently attending a council meeting, representing the Senju clan for the first time since our return. I awaited with the lights turned off, the darkness offering some sort of comfort until kaa-chan came back. Before she had left for the council meeting, I had asked if it was because of the war. She gave me a sad smile and didn't answer. She didn't have to.

They were mobilising all able bodied shinobi, even bringing the few left out of retirement. It had been an emotionally exhausting week. I could barely control myself when Jin and Furumi were deployed on their first mission. Part of me wanted to march up to the Hokage and ask him how he could fall asleep at night, knowing he sent children out to war. The resigned part of me won over in the end. It was so much easier to blame the old man, but really, no one had it harder than the leader forced to push his own men off a bridge. The old man probably hated himself enough for the both of us. I hadn't seen Jiraiya lately, rumour has it that he had last been sighted near the Wind Country trying to quash rebellions that were escalating the impending war. It was weird hearing about the obnoxious pervert in this way. Kinda like drinking lukewarm milk on a hot day.

Kakashi was training harder than ever, his lightning jutsus razing our training ground to bits. Even the goggled idiot was arriving on time to team training, even more stubborn and raring to go. Rin had started attending an intensive first aid workshop at the hospital when she wasn't with the team and Minato was doing his best to help prepare everyone. Shishou had taken it upon herself to give everyone heart attacks whenever she could under the pretence of reaction time development.

The academy finally decided to stop running three days ago. They couldn't spare anymore resources to babysitting children. I'm glad. In the freed up time, I had dedicated myself to long hours of seal work. Anything that seemed useful, I copied over and over again, shoving heaps of sealing paper into Kakashi's kunai pouch when he wasn't looking. Safety seals, exploding seals, flash bombs, resistance nullifiers. If he found it excessive, he never mentioned it.

Other times, I tagged along with the border sealing team and learnt from the experts on how to maintain and enforce barrier seals. It was gruelling work, seals taking hours on end to patch and enhance, even with the whole team going at it. I was doing anything I could to preoccupy myself. Every day would be a challenge to see how much I could do, how much I could wear myself out so that at the end of the day, I could attempt to get some shut-eye.

But no matter how tired I was physically, the thoughts and worries rampaged all night. At times like this, I really do miss Shisui. As if on cue, the image of his stupid grin flashed across my mind. The war hasn't even started but on some level it doesn't even matter. We're already defeated. We lost from the very moment they began sending children to their deaths.

* * *

We popped the giant celebration poppers over his head, laughing as confetti drenched his form. He shook his head out like a wet dog, pulling the confetti him off himself like it was gunk. He stared at our expectant faces with an unimpressed look. "What is all this mess?"

I was the first to announce our ingenious celebration. "Surprise! The Hokage is promoting you to jounin! This celebration is brought to you by the Senju Gossip Committee. You've heard it here first, folks!"

His eyes widen comically and Uncle goes to pat him awkwardly on the back after being nudged in the side by kaa-chan. Shishou comes out of the kitchen, a huge cake pierced with an unnecessary amount of lit candles, balanced on her two palms. She smiles softly when Kakashi continues to stand rock still and unresponsive.

"Congratulations, Kakashi-kun." Rin tries to insert shyly but is largely run over by an exuberant boy in a bowl-cut. "Kakashi-kun, my ultimate rival! How youthful of you to have snatched the jounin title at such a tender age! You have proved us all once again of our inadequacies! Be sure my friend, I will run one thousand more laps on my hands every day until we stand side by side as fellow jounin! For now Kakashi-kun, don't miss me too much!

It's at this that he unfreezes and splutters out his gratitude to shishou and everyone else there bar Obito and decisively ignoring Gai who bellows out his annoyance for Kakashi's 'hip' attitude. The goggled idiot was pretending to sulk in the background but it was obvious even to a blind man that he was happy for his teammate.

At our enthusiastic insistence, he blows out the candles and is manhandled into a chair at one end of the dining table. Shishou forces a knife into his hand and everyone nods at him to make the first cut. As the knife hits the bottom of the cake, shishou screams out, "Kakashi-kun needs to kiss the closest girl!"

Everyone looks towards Rin who looked aghast at having chosen a spot at the back of the room, safely placing last in terms of proximity to her crush. I gave a huff of laughter, pointing at Obito who was stationed right beside him, "I guess you'll have to give the goggled idiot a great smacking on the lips."

Kakashi rolls his eyes before dragging me to his side out of nowhere and pecking me on the side of the face. I blinked in shock. His mask had prevented any lip meeting skin but I could see the smug expressions out of my periphery, particularly shishou's. Kaa-chan nodded with a proud look on her face, camera hanging from her left hand. I supressed the urge to face palm. She smiled innocently at me, poofing away the camera in a quick sleight of hand.

"Let's eat!" We began to dig in to the massive cake, everyone trying their darn best to shovel as much of it down as possible. I had tried to warn shishou about the concept of overkill but she wouldn't have any of it. She ended up locking me in a room and keeping me in a circle of salt so that my 'bad energy' didn't affect her baking abilities.

After sufficiently stuffing myself, I procured a sealing scroll that had been a joint present from kaa-chan and I, slamming the thing onto the table with a thump. "The Senju Gossip Committee presents to you, the ultimate scroll of storage. You could stuff the size of a mini village in this bad boy," I pat the side of the scroll lovingly. "So go wild."

He accepts it appreciatively, inclining his head towards kaa-chan. I pout, where was my thanks?

The next person to present their gift was Rin, who shuffled forwards to give him a first aid kit. She smiled brightly and congratulated him again, unknowing of the seething Uchiha behind them. Uncle pulled out a family heirloom, putting all our gifts to shame with a heart-warming moment between father and son. Kakashi gave the tanto a few experimental swipes and white chakra streaked behind with each swing. Uncle was seen tearing up as he watched Kakashi weld the tanto, he turned away from the scene and escaped into the kitchen. Kaa-chan stood up to follow him.

Shishou gave him a stack of ramen coupons and slipped something into his hand, leaning in to whisper something I couldn't quite pick up. Kakashi's face turns oddly sombre and he briefly glances at me before looking at the object in his hand. Curiosity gnaws at me when shishou pivots around to give me a sly wink.

Gai, Kurenai and Asuma, two-thirds of which I hadn't realised existed today somehow got themselves invited and all simultaneously pulled out the same gift – a set of reinforced kunais. Kakashi all the same accepted them graciously, stating that a shinobi could never have too many weapons. Gai shed waterfalls at this, screaming about 'youth', 'ultimate rival' and whatnot. I cringed at his decibel range. The boy's voice box packed a punch. I had nothing against the bowl-head – he seemed to be a sincere and hardworking individual but was entirely too intense for my taste. Kurenai was, surprisingly light hearted and fun to speak with. I initially passed her off as uptight and one-track minded but she was fairly easy going. There was Kurenai's easy going and then there was Asuma's apathy which was on a whole other level. A Nara level dare I say it. Kaa-chan had let slip once in a rare drunken rant that at one point in her life she had almost arranged a marriage between foetus me and Asuma. I can very certainly say that I had never been more relieved in my life. I'd run myself straight into a blade if I had to put up with his indifference on a daily basis. One Nara Jin was perfectly enough for me.

An unknown package sat at the end of the table, on it were the words 'Commendation from the Great Toad Sage'. I threw it at Kakashi, cursing when his hand shot up to catch it before it smacked into his face. His eyebrows furrow as he stared at the chicken scrawl handwriting before he tears it open. A limited edition, signed copy of the first book of the Icha Icha series falls out of the wrappings. The book made its appearance and erupted into flames just as quickly. Shishou gave a loud snort at the puddle of ashes.

After everyone had given their presents, Kakashi's eyes wander around the room, landing on Obito. He strides over to him purposefully, sticking a hand out with a smirk. Obito looks around wildly, confused as to what his teammate was doing. Kakashi wiggles his opened palm at him more firmly. "Where's my promotion gift?"

Obito blanches, reddening rapidly. "I-I forgot."

Kakashi sneers but doesn't say anything. At this point, Uncle and kaa-chan return to the living room. Kaa-chan busts out some sake, pouring it into a cup in front of a bewildered Kakashi. "You're an adult now, Kakashi. You won't think I'm old fashioned in celebrating this with a small toast?" I nodded to myself, impressed. This was the power of the Senju persuasion. She proposes a toast that Kakashi can't possibly refuse without risking coming across as rude. She clinks her cup against his, urging the cup to his lips. Everyone watched with bated breath. Yes, Kakashi-nii, reveal yourself, which is it? Buck teeth or a gigantic mole? He raises the cup slowly and then all of a sudden, puts away the drink, declining it in favour of 'keeping a clear memory of this celebratory occasion'. Uncle's soft 'atta boy' from the back causes us all to turn and glare at him.

I exchange a sorrowful glance with kaa-chan. Her execution had been flawless, but our downfall had been the underestimation of our newly promoted jounin. It was expected of him really, how else would he have gotten into that position if he didn't possess some degree of quick strategic intelligence?

I lay on the couch, lazily flicking a full house onto the floor and successfully emptying my hand. Kurenai throws her hand to the floor with a groan and Gai announces taking his training regimen to the next level by incorporating regular card game strategy practice. Asuma and Obito just shake their heads silently, most likely asking themselves how they lost to someone less than half their age. I preened under Rin's compliments. Giving up my couch to Kakashi so that he could tag in, I went to join the adults at the table.

Bringing a cup of water to my lips I looked to shishou, "So have we cleared this early promotion surprise with Minato-san and the Hokage?"

"Well, the Hokage gave us his blessings and gave his regards to Kakashi." Shishou said between bites of cake. That woman was a monster at putting away food.

"And Minato-san?" I prompted.

"Wait. I was supposed to meet sensei at the training ground an hour ago."

We all looked to Kakashi.


	13. Chapter 13

A great hole ripped through the sealing paper as my brush streaked across harshly. All I could hear was a strange ringing and the loud pulsing of blood pumping. A prickling sensation began in my fingertips and slowly bled into my limbs. She was facing me with steadfast eyes and a strong posture. Not once had her eyes left mine. They didn't betray any worry nor grief. The message she was sending was loud and clear. _Konoha needs me._

I threw myself at her. I howled. I screamed.

My hands wrung the back of her kimono. My tears drowned her front. Nothing was functioning as I wanted. I had planned for this. I had planned to accept it, show a reassuring smile or give her a warm hug. Not this. I was beside myself with anger. Anger that I couldn't place on one thing. All I could think about was kaa-chan and losing her.

The morning kaa-chan left, she gave me the longest hug. She then pulled away and bared her perfect white teeth in a wide grin. It was the cheeky Senju special. She always said that nobody could pull a smile that bright without some Senju magic at work. And I would always retort her logic with why the genes hadn't done their job on Tobirama. She dumped her fist onto my head every single time.

Uncle stood a little ways behind us with a grim look. Kaa-chan turned around to give him a resounding smack to the back as if to say 'lighten up, for Kareha', and then proceeded to drag him into a group hug. Uncle had originally not been deployed until a week later. But he threw a massive tantrum in the Hokage's office, demanding to be deployed with kaa-chan or not at all. I guess the Hokage didn't need to think twice about granting Konoha's White Fang his wish.

I'm glad he remembered the promise we made on the first night of our arrival in Konoha. He said he would protect kaa-chan. I clenched my fists tightly. Uncle would be able to protect kaa-chan.

I put on a strong front and gave her hand a squeeze before letting it slip from mine. She threw behind a two fingered salute, throwing an arm around uncle's shoulder before stepping through the Konoha gates. Her hair whipped about her as she left, brown locks swaying like a flag in the air. Like an omen to the beginning of an end, for far too many.

I strained my eyes as far as they could go, following their outlines as they disappeared into the thick foliage. Shishou appeared a few hours later, placing a light hand on my shoulder. I allowed her to pull me into her shoulder and I finally let the tears fall. My nose buried into her shirt. Shishou was warm and had a distinct floral scent, a lot like kaa-chan's. I felt her fingers run through my hair. "Kareha-chan, do you know what shishou's favourite phrase is? Don't give up til the very end! And we haven't even begun, my little disciple. Nothing has even begun."

* * *

After Uncle and kaa-chan had left, I stayed with Shishou. For some reason despite her prowess on the field, she was saddled with seal duty. I understood that Shishou was possibly the best seal master in the village, but to waste her other abilities like that… it didn't make sense. She didn't seem keen on answering to my curiosity either and so I left it at that. Shishou seemed very uncomfortable with it also, seeming antsy all the time, probably from being sidelined whilst the others got in the midst of action.

We took up the same routine again. Mornings were spent with me practicing seals and shishou making bentos for Team 7. We would visit them on the training field and Kakashi and I would beat down on Obito. And for variety's sake, Kushina would sometimes join in and beat down on Obito also. Minato had no way of controlling us, so he gave up ages ago, forcing out sheepish laughter at the situation. Rin, the angel that we didn't deserve, still tried her best to get us to let up on the goggled idiot. And honestly, if he were a tad less idiotic, I probably would've let Rin have her way. Too bad Uchihas were predisposed to be senseless twats that lacked tact when it came to women.

Today was going to be good I said to myself. Why? Because I would finally work on the next part of the hiraishin. It was going to be another arduous process of experimenting, but I was moving somewhere. And with a few little cheeky pointers from shishou, I'll be flying in no time. Yanking open my sealing supplies I realised we had ran out of ink. I alerted shishou who adopted a disturbed expression. It must've been an out of body experience for an Uzumaki to run out of sealing ink. With a serious face, she slapped some money into my hands and announced gravely, "Take this and rectify the sin that we've sacrilegiously embraced." Looking skyward she whispered, "Grandfather, I apologise for this unholy disrespect." She then stood up ramrod straight and returned to cooking robotically.

I did exactly as told and entered into the shopping district. Many of the stores had closed for obvious reasons and would not be opened for quite some time. I was forced to head to Old Crabby for my sealing supplies. Old Crabby is what I dubbed the old man who runs arguably the best sealing store in Konoha. Unfortunately he also happens to be the geezer that gave me snarky suggestions with finding a sealing teacher. What he didn't know, was that Senjus and gudges mixed together like milk and chocolate powder. I had vowed to never enter his store again. Alas, the war has forced many a compromises upon me lately.

I shuffled into the store, avoiding eye contact with Old Crabby and pulled a couple of ink pots into my arms before depositing them on the counter with a bit of cash. Out of my periphery I saw Old Crabby give me a disgruntled look and his lips curl. I ignored this and tapped my foot waiting for the transaction to go through. He gave me the change which I accepted wordlessly. Sealing the ink pots into a storage scroll I left, triumphant that we had not exchanged a single word.

That'll show him to mess with a valuable customer. Next time, he better think again before sending me to some drunk ass in a bathhouse. Wait. Drunk ass. I hummed to myself thoughtfully, mind whirring into overdrive. Drunk ass…Bathhouse… Perverted sannin… a shiver went down my spine…Jiraiya.

I had half the mind to go back and apologise to Old Crabby, begging for his forgiveness on my knees. But I reconsidered my options. Jiraiya was a horrible person to send a little girl to. Old Crabby had not considered my safety when he tried booting me off to that perverted bozo. In my books – and mind you, the whole female population's book – that was worse than leading me astray with an incapable sealing teacher. Upon that realisation, I stormed off even angrier than I came.

Passing by an alleyway, I caught my eye on a few kids beating up a hunched up figure on the floor. Now normally I would walk on and pretend I had seen nothing. After all, the kids all seemed to be at least genin and I wasn't one to take chances. If there was one thing Shikaku taught me, it was not to pick fights you couldn't finish on your own terms. And getting beaten to a bloody pulp was most definitely not the terms I'm stating. However, a sense of familiarity stirred in me, causing me to observe a little longer. I began distinguishing Uchiha chakra and that always forebode misfortune. I cursed my selective altruism for choosing this moment to activate itself.

Putting my hands on either side of my face, I hollered, "Hey, dipshits! Over here. How about you sit your asses down here and let me wipe the floor with you?" The colourful language was necessary, I repeated in my mind, hoping to quell kaa-chan's anger halfway across the world. It certainly caught the attention of some menacing genin. They all turned around to face little ole me, snarling like rabid dogs. I started running.

I left behind an illusion of myself running in the opposite direction and antagonising the genin further. The real me, took a more self-preserving route and ran into a shop with a henge. With my luck, I managed to single out Old Crabby's store. The geezer stared at me for the longest time. I levelled him a nonchalant look, giving a shrug and exiting like the cool lass I was. The hotness creeping up my neck and darkening of my cheeks were just my imagination.

I hurried back to the alleyway to evacuate the Uchiha victim before the genin made their return. I was too exhilarated at that point to question the genin's inability to see through relatively simple genjutsu. But later that night, it would haunt me for hours as I mused over the ninja academy's competence.

I stared and stared. No matter how many bruises the guy managed to accumulate on his face, it didn't manage to eradicate the annoyance I felt every time I laid eyes on it. As lady luck would have it – she was awfully sprucy today – I became the saviour of Uchiha Wakane. _My_ _best friend_.

Pulling his arm across my shoulder, I heaved him up with all my might and hustled us on out of there. We took refuge on the outskirts of the Nara Forest where I was sure we wouldn't be targeted. Leaning him against a tree, I propped a hand against my hip and looked down on him. He turned his head and averted his gaze to the side in defiance.

"Where's all your 'I challenge you to a fight' bravado? That only come out when you face little girls?" I scoffed when he didn't answer me. "Why'd you let your own kinsman attack you? Kind of mean of them, isn't it? Makes me question how you turned out less if the rest of them are like that."

He tensed visibly and a scowl made its way across his expression. I shrugged casually. "Not that I really care. I've learnt to not expect much from you Uchihas." I turned around, striding away from him.

"Well, isn't that just typical of a Senju."

I narrowed my eyes, fingers curling into a fist. He just had to go run his mouth, didn't he? "What is typical of a Senju? Saving your stupid Uchiha ass and then getting attacked because your pride can't handle it? Getting tossed away like we don't mean anything to you?" I snorted. "Now _that's_ typical of an Uchiha." I paced out of the Nara property angrily, missing the widening of Wakane's eyes and his shocked silence. I almost bumped into Shikaku as he walked into the compound. He skirted around me, holding me upright as he did so.

"Wow, hold on there. Why are you in such a hurry?"

I blinked up at him, suddenly aware of my surroundings. "Sorry, chakra sensitivity must've short circuited." I mumbled. "Also, I'm not in a hurry. I normally walk this fast."

He gives me an appraising look a lets out an airy, "Huh." "Well since you're here, want to go for a game of shougi?"

I gave a vehement shake of the head, reciting sagely, "Never pick a fight you can't finish on your own terms." That piece of advice, oh how you've served me today.

He gave a laugh and ruffled my hair. "I see you've taken the particular lesson to heart."

"I sure have…"

"At least stay for lunch. Your godmother misses you a lot."

I sighed. "You always sacrifice me to be the stuffed chicken."

"Consider it an honour. She doesn't let me try any of the food before the guests arrive." His hand began guiding me back into the compound.

"It's torture! Heavenly torture but still torture!"

He let out a dismissive snort. "Fine, but can I entice you with Inoichi and Chouza coming around? You love Inoichi."

"No I don't! I said he gave me the creeps!"

"Oh, I wouldn't think too hard on that around him. He might pick up on your thoughts."

"Don't say that, now it's going to be all I think about!"

* * *

I jumped between Minato and Kushina early that morning, wedging myself between their snuggling. This elicited soft groans from Minato and an annoyed huff from Kushina. "Wake up kiddos! Today's a special day!"

Minato opened a bleary eye. "It is?"

I gave him an approving nod. "I stand corrected." Putting up my index finger, I amended myself. "It _will_ become a special day."

Kushina now brought herself into a sitting position, considering me with an amused countenance. "Oh, and how's that?"

"Well, you know how Obito's afraid of loud noises and dark spaces?"

"Yes, as a result of Kakashi and your pranking."

I nodded impatiently, "Yes, yes, the pranking. Anyway, I have a way to get rid of it. You know, before it sabotages your next mission."

"I should be in," shishou paused with impact, "Depending on the details of your plan."

I patted shishou on the leg condescendingly, "Oh you don't worry about a thing, the plan is already in motion."

I activated a seal on my wrist having it glow a hot red. Putting my lips to it I whisper, "Agent Broiled Fish, come in."

A bit of static came through along with the response. "Agent Broiled Fish to base. Operation Goggled Idiot, status: 10 minutes past commenced. Over."

"Well done, Agent. I will proceed to the next location now. Over."

A new voice sounded. "Kurenai and I are on standby." An enraged voice immediately took over. "You can't reveal your identities! That's not youthful at all Asuma-kun!"

"You just revealed my identity, Gai."

I face palmed. "Agents, please. Use your assigned nicknames and reconvene to our meeting place."

"Yosh! Agent Mushroom is fired up. Over."

"Right, begin phase two. Clear."

The glow of the seal faded. I grinned at the shocked looks of Minato and shishou. "Let's get going for the show, shall we?" I held my arms up for them to take, sneaking a playful wink at both of them.

Ten minutes later, we were hiding out in a tree, newspaper strung across our faces. I checked my watch and looked up to sight Kakashi tailing an oblivious Obito. Coming from the other side, was Asuma and Kurenai, engaged in a conversation with Rin. They were conveniently staged in front of a sizeable hole which had miraculous chakra negating abilities. Most definitely naturally occurring. Most definitely. At the exact moment Kakashi caught eye with Kurenai, the red eyed chunnin gave a mighty shove towards Rin, knocking her into the hole. Obito who caught all this in action, ran forwards, poking his head over the edge of the hole. "Rin! Are you ok?" His voice bounced around in the large hole comically.

There was a faint, 'yes' and a boisterous, 'Yosh!' Obito squinted into the darkness, "Gai, are you down there also?"

"Oh youthful friend of mine! I'm stuck in this formidable opponent that prevents any chakra usage!" I nodded proudly, a convincing display from Gai indeed.

Obito paled noticeable. Kurenai burst into tears. "I'm so sorry Rin! This is all my fault. I totally lost balance and pushed you into the hole! Now you'll never be able to get out!" She pulled her hands away from her blotchy face just to scream, "I'm a murderer!" before descending into more sobs and wails.

Obito cringed away from her loud apologising and tried to assess the situation. He gave one look at the deep, dark hole before scuttling backwards on his hands and feet. "K-kakashi! You need to help Rin!"

Asuma chose this moment to elbow Obito in the side. Everything was going to plan. "Obito, don't be stupid. If you get Kakashi to save her, then you'll just be helping them get together. This is the typical knight in shining armour moment. You need to take advantage of it and save her yourself." He hissed inconspicuously to him.

I bobbed my head approvingly. Very believable. Obito gulped, shooting a frightened look towards the hole once more. In a predictable fashion, he straightened up and broadened his shoulders. "Of course, I'll be the one to save her!" "Don't worry Rin! I'm coming to get you!"

I looked over to my left to see Minato's eyes shining with unshed tears at the brilliant display of teamwork. Shishou on my right was cracking her knuckles menacingly. "Rin-chan is not a damsel in distress." For someone with bad hearing, she sure was adept at picking out the things that offended her.

I shrugged, "After lots of brainstorming and great ideas, we've decided the only things that ever motivate Obito is one, Rin and two, his grandmother's wrath. We took the easy way out with enlisting Rin's help."

Shishou relaxed at this. "At least Rin knows what she's getting into."

"Oh no, Rin has no idea what this is about. For all she knows, she's just stuck in a dark hole waiting for Obito to fish her out."

Shishou gaped at me. I gave her an ear-splitting grin.

Suddenly, a tainted chakra streaks past a few kilometres to the north. A familiar wind natured chakra followed almost immediately. I focused hard, closing my eyes and picturing the two chakra signatures flitting through the trees. I could see a tall figure shadowing the smaller tainted chakra with ferocious tenacity. The wind chakra was closing in, fast.

I dropped my newspaper and sprinted after them. The wind chakra was the same one I had encountered on that day. They had killed a Konoha kunoichi and they're probably going after another one now. My lips curled back as I clenched my teeth. I've had enough of unnecessary slaughter, especially that of friendly fire. Our own people picking each other off in a time of war. It was disgusting.

I flinched as a leaf split my cheek. The two chakras had engaged in combat but it was extremely one sided. More of a beat down than anything. The tainted chakra burst out in a wild explosion but was quashed without much effort from the other individual. A shiver shot down my back at the dark chakra that spilled out like an unending pool of pitch black, suffocating the other signature like it was a weak flame.

As I rushed forth, the wind chakra perked up, receding its chakra and disappeared without a trace. I didn't catch more than a blur of black before landing in the clearing. The figure on the floor was unmoving. There was no chakra response. Not even a flicker in its signature. As I neared the body, it suddenly caught aflame and was reduced to ashes in a matter of seconds.

I stared unseeingly, hand still suspended to reach out to the body that was no longer there. There had been a person, alive a few moments ago. Blood pumping, chakra pulsing, breathing the same air I was breathing now. Right here, in this clearing. Their existence had been completely eradicated, like it had never existed in the first place.

A second later, Minato burst into the clearing. I turned my red rimmed eyes to him, not knowing what to say, how to explain the life lost before me.


	14. Chapter 14

"M-minato-san, I-"

He looked from me to the ash remains of the shinobi, eyes darkening. I was rooted still as Kushina burst into the clearing followed closely by the rest of Team 7 plus Gai, Asuma and Kurenai. Their expressions turned grave as they registered the atmosphere.

"Sensei, what happened?" Kakashi's low voice barely carried across the whistling of the leaves and the erratic pulsing of blood pumping in my ears. I fixed my gaze on the ground, fisting my hands into the fabric of my clothes. Their wary looks fell heavy on my body. _Stop._ It was suffocating. _Stop it._ The tips of my ears burned but the rest of me felt cold, like I was freezing rapidly from inside out. The sound of my own breathing became louder as the low conversations melted away. A pair of arms suddenly restrained me, pulling my heaving chest against their body. The need to struggle was gone when a sharp impact to the back of my neck put me out like a light.

* * *

I awoke to the soft puffs of air caressing my face. The hospital humidifier whirred quietly beside my head. I blinked up at the white ceiling feeling fatigued but not in any physical sense. It was like an odd weight settled itself on my chest and wouldn't budge no matter what. Behind the walls I could sense chakra signatures milling about, many of which belonging to civilians. Peeling off the blanket, I placed both soles of my feet to the floor, breathing deeply at the cool sensation. Propping the window open, I pounced off the ledge, dropping onto the grass below. Straightening up slowly, I began making my way to the Harue residency knowing full well that by the end of the day, I'd either be getting my way or lose a part of my memory. I steadied myself resolutely. There was only so much ignorance I could feign.

That evening, the jounin commander found me sitting on the porch of her home, eyes baring into hers. There was a tinge of defeat that settled into her otherwise blank chakra signature. She proceeded past me, pushing the door open. For a good moment I thought that she had completely dismissed me until she jerked her head in my direction to follow her. Sliding off my sandals I pattered into her home, taking a hesitant seat at her behest. Her sharp cat eyes appraised me, awaiting predator-like.

I fingered the rim of the steaming cup of tea that she had placed before me. "I apologise if I come across presumptuous Harue-sama but I find it very hard to comprehend how Konoha's competent jounin have yet to apprehend one man that's hiding in our own village at this very moment."

Her visage gave away nothing. With her arms crossed over her chest and the blank mask she carried, her defences seemed impenetrable. I resisted the urge to shuffle beneath her unwavering gaze, returning the look steadily. The tension eventually seeped out of her shoulders as she relaxed minutely, fatigue dawning on her features. "You always seem to find yourself at the worst place at the worst possible timing, you Senjus." I blinked at the connotations. Was she referring to kaa-san? Their history wasn't familiar to me but she and kaa-san seemed to be long-time friends, with kaa-san always speaking fondly of her.

"Look kid, catching perpetrators isn't as easy as you think." "This man has been covering his tracks too well, so well in fact that we suspect the people up there have something to do with it." She flicked her index finger skywards, shooting me a meaningful look. So that's how it was, justice would always be weak in the face of corruption. "Plus, it's not like we can apprehend someone for killing a person that doesn't exist."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

She levelled an appraising look on me before massaging the bridge of her nose, sighing heavily. "It's an underground organisation called Root. It's comprised of people who don't exist, supposedly dead or MIA shinobi, orphans…people with no names. Originally, it had functioned as a subdivision of Konoha's anbu unit but after some questionable activity, the Hokage had it disbanded."

I gripped onto the edge of the seat tightly. "Then why does it still exist?"

"That's the thing kid. It doesn't. There's no evidence of it existing whatsoever. I've had some of my most trusted shinobi investigate just to die or go missing in the most inconspicuous ways. The kunoichi that you got involved with was one of them. Had you not been there, we would've still been in the dark about the nature of their activity." The weight on my chest lightened, that meant that the Jounin Commander wasn't as unprepared as she set herself out to be. A grim smile revealed tired lines across her face, "And you just so happen to catch onto them again. The folks down there must really be getting tired of you."

I stewed quietly on that for a moment. I couldn't imagine I'd be alive if not for my clan's reputation. "Can I ask who lead Root previously? Or rather, who is still leading Root currently?"

The light caught against her gleaming eyes. I swore it gave a brief flash of approval. "Shimura Danzo."

My brows drew together. Him again. The man was deeply involved in the thick of Konoha's darkness. I could sense his intentions in his chakra and he was nothing but self-righteousness, the kind that led to nothing but tragedy and grief. "What do you plan on doing?"

Her eyes turned to the ceiling. "What indeed." She huffed out softly. "Either way, I think you have a visitor."

I reached out my senses to find a worrying Minato pacing back and forth outside and a furious shishou. I rubbed my left cheek, standing up to bow and leave. "Thank you, as always."

As I turned the knob of the door, her voice rang out to me. "Don't get into more trouble, kid. Furumi and your kaa-san wouldn't let me hear the end of it when they get back." Pushing open the door, Minato immediately raised his head.

Before he could get a word out I interrupted, "-I'm fine. Really. Except for the fact that you tagged me with hiraishin without me knowing." I attempted a smile to dissipate the grave atmosphere. "How _did_ you manage that?"

Shishou barrelled into me, knees hitting the ground so that she could wound her arms tightly around me. "You stupid girl, don't run away from the hospital. You're not even a ninja yet and you've already adopted all the bad habits -dattebane." The moonlight cast strange lines across shishou's face, I thought I'd almost seen the light reflect glistening eyes.

"Sorry for worrying you guys."

* * *

The next few days, I spent pouring over whatever I could find on Root and anything that related to it. Mission reports, scrolls on the Konoha military structure, missing persons lists. It was futile, really. The things that I managed to uncover were essentially useless, the things that were worth looking into were classified or destroyed.

I couldn't tell why I was so fixated on it myself, but the thought of an underground assassination unit sitting right under Konoha's nose irked me in more ways than I could count. People were disappearing like they never existed. Live and breathing one second, a pile of ashes the next. The fact that I couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary had been another reason, it was almost like I'd had a limb cut off. My sensory perception felt numb and sluggish and it weighed heavily on my paranoia. Shimura Danzo's lone eye haunted me wherever I went. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't push it into the back of my mind. There was something about his look that said _'you're next'._

Rubbing my bare arms, I walked the path to the Nara compound, eyes flitting briefly to the other path on the fork of the road. The well-worn path to my favourite senbei shop. I closed my eyes, reaching out my senses only to come up with nothing. Tilting my neck skywards I let out a small breath. He's left.

The edges of my lips drew into a wry smile as I continued going my way.

"Yoshino-baa, you won't believe what I've brought for you." My footsteps fell light and quick into the kitchen where I'd find her mixing together some herbs into a large mortar. She looked up, a wide beam stretching across her features when she saw me.

"Kareha-chan! You're a sight for sore eyes, you are."

I returned a grin, plopping myself beside her at the table. "You're going to like this even more than my good looks." I said, flicking my pale blonde locks behind me and fishing out a few seals from my waistband. Splaying the seals across the table I watched her expectantly.

She stared from the seals, to me, then back to the seals, open mouthed. "A-are these…"

I crossed my arms, nodding haughtily. "Newly revised, communications seal. Once on, it can only be removed by the person who applied it. Works under any condition, no matter the place. Oji-san can't feint communication disruption."

Her eyes shimmered in gratitude. "Kareha-chan," she cried, grabbing my hands in hers, "You've revolutionised the lives of many Nara women."

I brushed her off, "Don't worry about it," Anything to get back at Shikaku for coercing me into babysitting his deer. The debilitating trauma… "If you need any more for the others who were unlucky enough to marry into the Nara family, feel free to give me a call." And of course, the other Nara men would have to suffer for the sins of their clan head. A dark smirk engulfed my face.

* * *

"Kakashi, my greatest rival! I challenge you to a battle!"

The both of us raised our heads from out of our bowl of ramen, coming face to face with a pair of animated caterpillar brows. Dabbing away at my mouth with Kakashi's napkin, I acknowledge the guy with an inclination of the head. He returned my greeting with a blinding toothy smile and his trademark thumbs up. I cringed away slightly, squinting my eyes at his illuminating sparkle.

"So what do you say, rival?!" He braced both hands at his hip, thrusting his pelvis forward and examining Kakashi intently.

The dead-fish eyed Hatake went to reach for his napkin to find it already soiled by yours truly. He shot me a glare before turning to Teuchi for another. I felt the enthusiastic ninja behind us slowly wilting at Kakashi's complete disregard for him. Feeling sorry for the guy, I wracked my brain quickly and offered up a half-baked excuse that'd hopefully appease his passionate rivalry for the moment. "Sorry Gai-san, we're all booked out for the day. Kashi-nii promised me that he'd teach me a new jutsu today." I sent a silencing look at Kakashi who was about to open his mouth.

Gai's expression immediately fell, his straight bangs shadowing his eyes. I held my breath as he trembled, fists clenched as his sides. However his bout of moodiness vanished as quick as it came, giving way to emotional tears. "Oh my hip rival! I didn't realise you were such a dedicated older brother! You put me to shame! I will work a hundred times harder to become a master of doting, just like my hip rival."

I grimaced. Did Gai even have a sibling to dote on? An uncomfortable imagery of thick browed spawns of Satan running about shouting 'Springtime of Youth!' came to the forefront of my mind. I shoved it away resolutely.

Kakashi's fingers wrapped around my wrist and dragging me to a stand, interrupted my thoughts. "That's right Gai, I have to uphold my promise. Come on, Kareha." I followed him, his quick steps emblazing the trail we left behind.

We somehow ended at the infamous Team 7 training ground, the both of us bent over our knees wheezing. Kakashi recovered first, straightening up to give me an appreciative nod. "Good thinking."

I smirked. "Nothing ever comes free, _Kashi-nii._ " Rolling up the sleeves of my kimono, I held out my hand expectantly.

He eyed my outstretched palm, completely lost. "What? I have no jutsus to teach you. We don't even share the same infinities."

"I actually have a minor affinity to Earth." I corrected him. "But no, fork over some cash, I want to get some nori senbei."

"I just paid for your ramen, how's a freeloader like you hungry again?"

I shot him an unimpressed look, "You left the bill with Gai-san. That's why we left so fast, wasn't it? Don't be such a cheapskate Bakashi, I promise it'll be worth your while."

His expression betrayed no hints of shame at being caught having offed the bill to someone else. A resigned shake of the head told me I had won.

I skipped happily beside him, interlacing my fingers behind my back. I saw him shoot me a sullen look from my periphery. "What happened to avoiding the Uchiha district?"

I stopped short, almost tripping over my own feet. I picked up my easy gait again, quirking my head to the side with a small smile. "When did I ever do something like that? I can't live without Uruchi-sama's food."

He let it go, slouching forwards again with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants. We arrived at the small stand soon enough, the few Uchiha civilians giving Kakashi weird looks. Outsiders were a rare sight in the Uchiha district, I was an exception since I often frequented Uchiha Senbei and the residents had gotten used to my presence. Although it took some time for them to get around the fact that a Senju of all people was the first of few to put aside prejudice but some of them were even beginning to acknowledge me with a small nod and smile.

Teyaki-ossan was seated at the bench outside the small bakery, newspaper drawn across his front. I greeted him with a gust of wind, plastering the pages of the newspaper to his face. He pulled it away with a growl, grabbing his broom to beat away the annoying Uchiha children before recognising me. He blinked in surprise, dropping the broom. I gave him a hesitant grin, touching the back of my neck. "Long time no see, Teyaki-ossan."

His eyes softened and he called over his shoulder for his wife. "Neither you nor the other brat have come in a long while. I thought our best patrons had abandoned us."

I drew my brows together at that. "I'm sorry. I thought the Uchiha would've had enough thoughtfulness to at least drop by."

He stayed quiet for a sombre moment. Uruchi-sama came up behind him, eyes crinkling into a smile when she saw me. "Kareha-chan! You've finally brought a friend. And a cute one at that. I see why you keep denying Shisui as your boyfriend."

I smiled brightly back, yanking Kakashi forward, "This is Kakashi, he's my brother." The socially challenged jounin flailed before going into a small bow.

"Thank you for always taking care of Kareha, she's a handful."

Uruchi-sama beamed, herding Kakashi into the bakery. I mentally saluted him, wishing his socially stunted self good luck.

"Take a seat, brat."

It'd been the first time I had seen him so serious. It was unnerving to say the least. The shrivelled bat should be sporting a dopey loving smile or an irritated scowl, not this grave countenance. I sat by him anyway, swinging my legs back and forth.

"You know you remind me a lot of him." I snapped my head up to him. "The Nidaime Hokage."

"You knew him?"

He gave a harsh laugh. "Knew him? No! Knew of him, more like. I was a little boy when Senju Tobirama became Hokage. He was notoriously pragmatic and didn't bother to hide his derision for the Uchihas. Perhaps it's better to call it wariness, he didn't hate the Uchihas but he never trusted us either." He adopted a faraway look, the wrinkles surrounding his eyes fading as he remembered his boyhood. "It didn't matter whether you were a child or a woman, Senju Tobirama held no reservations for the whole clan. We were all booted to one corner of the village in the name of security to Konoha. Of course at first, our clan was blind sighted by the authority, but it soon became apparent that the whole thing had been a ploy to our marginalisation. At least that was what had been propagated by the Madara sympathisers. The elders forced all the children into ninja arts, and those who showed no talent were persecuted."

He folded his arms across his chest, leaning into the wall behind us. I stared off into the distance, listening intently. "I almost drowned as a boy. I remember vividly the water filling my lungs, the burning sensation, the desperation…and eventually defeat" a gruff cough of laughter escaped his lips as he trailed off. "Who would've thought that the one man to throw himself after me would be the Nidaime Hokage himself? You know what he said to me after he pulled me out from the water like a drenched dog? 'Uchiha boy, there are more things to life then becoming a shinobi. Support the village in other ways. Start a bakery, get married, inspire the next generation. The will of fire is upheld by more than those who throw themselves to battle.' And to think I did just that."

I gaped at him wide-eyed. "Tobirama said that?"

"Makes less sense the more you think about it, huh?" he scratched the bottom of his chin, grinning humourlessly. He turned his weathered eyes on me, "The first time I saw you, I could tell even without the emblem across your back. You're a spitting image of him. And you have his heart too."

I deflated at that. Having his looks was fine, I'd come to terms with that but now I have his disposition too?

"And that brat," He snorted gruffly, "He's Kagami's descendent alright."

I perked up at that name. "Kagami?" One of the shinobi on Tobirama's Escort Unit in the First Shinobi World War and one of the last people to see him alive.

"Aa, Uchiha Kagami, our clan's very own Hashirama. The light of the clan whose will of fire burned brighter than anyone else's."

"You knew him personally?"

"I knew him enough." was his cryptic answer.

Kakashi exited the bakery with his arms full of steaming goods and nori senbei. My nose twitched at the scent and I immediately bounded to him, pilfering some crackers.

"My, darling, are we finally getting along with Kareha-chan?"

The shrivelled bat melted, cooing in agreement. "Of course, darling."

Kakashi sent me a weird look as if questioning my choice of company. I gave a shrug, then tilted my head to the left, signalling us heading off. We probably wouldn't want to stay for front row seats to what the shrivelled bat loosely termed 'innocent affection'.

"I believe in the descendants of Tobirama and Kagami. Whatever the brat did! Forgive him!" The old man called after us. Kakashi slanted me a curious glance in which I responded with a small shake of the head.

We were halfway to the entrance of the Uchiha district when an unexpected shout of surprise secured our attention. I turned around to see the goggled idiot, raising his forefinger to us in indignation. "What are you two doing here?!" "Actually, the little sadist I get, but why are _you_ here?" he squinted at Kakashi who pretended to clean out his ear, completely ignoring the Uchiha.

"Oi, answer me Bakashi!"

He rolled his bored eyes onto Obito, drawling, "I don't remember you becoming the Uchiha district's guard dog. Did you get promoted from public menace?"

The riled up Uchiha launched at Kakashi with a raised fist, screaming in fury. I studied Kakashi carefully, his eyes shifted to something besides boredom for a brief moment as he blocked off the attack half-heartedly. I rubbed at my forehead tiredly, this was supposed to be the one day Kakashi and I could spend the required five hours of 'family bonding time' per week quota and this goggled idiot had just come to ruin our progress. The requirement was at the behest of a pair of micromanaging parents before they had left to frontlines. And the consequences of not obeying…Kakashi and I both shuddered to imagine it. When fuelled with the desire to see Kakashi making progress in social interactions, even Uncle could be a fearsome entity rivalling the Shinigami.

At the fifth time that Obito was flung to the ground, I finally stepped in, slapping a paralysis seal over his face. "That's enough, Kakashi can't be stuck here entertaining you. If I have to spend time with him, he should be entertaining me."

Kakashi grunted, sticking his hands back into his pockets and stalking off. I followed close behind with brisk steps. "Something's been on your mind the whole day. You're bending to my whims a lot easier than usual."

He paused minutely. "Team 7 is getting deployed."

I pursed my lips. "I thought so." His glance slid over me before reverting to looking resolutely forwards. "When?"

"Less than a week."

"That soon, huh..." I breathed. Then I'd have to prepare a bit faster. There were still some things that I could do despite being stranded in the village.

"Give me your hand."

I jolted. "What?"

He scowled, repeating himself more forcefully. " _Give me your hand._ " He was gritting his teeth beneath his mask. I decided not to tease him further and stuck out my hand. He closed my fingers around something small and cool. I opened my palm to see a small hair pin sitting in the middle. Three dainty flowers dangled from the end, crystal lavender in colour. I looked up to see Kakashi averting his gaze, looking decidedly anywhere but at me. I smiled brilliantly, immediately clipping the accessory into my hair. "Thanks, Kashi-nii."

"It's fine. It was cheap anyway."

"Whatever you say."

* * *

A/N Things are finally getting heated, hope you guys enjoyed this one and stay tuned for the next installment. As always, thanks for your support and I'll see you all next time.


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